Beyond the Trash

Rating: 7/10 (10 February 2020)

I, Tonya is trash made into art. A real surprise as far as I am concerned, I was immediately seduced by this movie, by its way to blend comedy and drama as well as navigating the thin line between documentary and editorial. It is also a blast to watch - there is hardly a dull moment.
As a sideway comment, some have said that Harding was a victime of violence - I tend to disagree; She probably was a product of petty, everyday violence, a part of it. Violence was her norm, the un-told yet practical norm of the society around her, and she wasn't a stranger in ditching some of it around too. Likewise, neither her mustachied husband or mother hated her - they just loved her in their own inept way, because both of them came from the same environment. Such an entourage prevented Harding from accomplishing the American Dream, and yet all the while they thought they were doing the best thing for her. They were, of course, wrong.
All of this drama is played with levity, by well-directed actors in a tale told in the most honest manner possible. The film doesn't want to pass as an infallible teller but rather as doing what it can according to the different versions they've got, which provides us with some fourth wall comments, but all of them fit wonderfully with the movie's format. Robbie offers here the best performence of her (quite successful) career, of course, but Allison Janey and Paul Walter Hauser, helped by their larger-than-life characters (the villains of the movie, some would say) shine through the screen in every scene they appear in, in spite of having both a light touch.
Truely interesting movie. Not so much for the splendid special effect or photography (which is correct here nonetheless, mind you), but rather for the way it tells this rather sordid chapter of American sport history.