I, Tonya: Review
We follow the troubled upbringing of brassy but skilled
figure skater Tonya Harding (Robbie) with her extremely abusive mother LaVona
(Janney). In 1991 she becomes the first American woman to land the notoriously
difficult triple axel in competition, and is momentarily one of the best in her
field. A few years later and a botched attack on a competitor, Nancy Kerrigan,
orchestrated by husband (Stan), puts her at the centre of one of the biggest
scandals in sporting history.
If Goodfellas were
to be re-imagined for the figure skating world, the result would look a lot like
I, Tonya. Much like the 1990 classic,
the film achieves highly comedic characters and dialogue while also weaving a
tale of crime and a number of dark themes. Other pangs of Goodfellas are felt through the knowing voiceover, the narrative
that extends through a life, and the unconventional but likable protagonist.
The flourish of the mockumentary style interviews is new territory, but would
certainly not feel out of place had Scorsese employed it. The Harding biopic
effortlessly strikes the perfect equilibrium between a comic retelling of a
ridiculous happening, and gritty portrayal of a hugely
talented athlete raised
on mental and physical abuse.
This film is a veritable field trip for Robbie, Janney and
Stan who each execute their hefty roles with great panache. Robbie is the
perfect anti-hero of the sport- without the expected finesse associated with
figure skaters and lacking the funds to afford polished costumes, yet thriving
technically much to the chagrin of the various judging panels; she is the
perfect underdog. The only blemish in her otherwise flawless portrayal is when
we’re supposed to take her for a fifteen year old. It’s a bit of a stretch, but
we can forgive.
Janney is sublime as Harding’s immensely cruel mother, hell-bent
on ensuring success for her daughter that she is willing to beat her to get a
better performance. While being fervently unpleasant, she is fantastically
candid and apologetically defiant, much like Tonya. It comes as no surprise
that Janney has now been bestowed with an Oscar. Stan also gives great depth to
his character; the violent husband with which Tonya has a hugely capricious marriage.
It is the rocky relationships in Tonya’s life that makes this film the ultimate
tragedy. Being bullied by the closest people to her, her sport becomes a
sanctuary, and it makes it all the more heart-wrenching when in the conclusion
of the film she is indefinitely banned from figure skating; the only thing she
is good at.
I, Tonya is a
slick film. It handles the infamous incident masterfully, not wasting time on
Kerrigan herself. It paints a thorough picture of the series of events, without
being too cut and dry about who was guilty and who was not, as Tonya’s
voiceover muses, ‘There’s no such thing as truth’.
MS
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