I, Tonya - Review

This review of I, Tonya is spoiler-free!

Back in the 90s, I'm sure most people at least knew the names, Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan. These were two of the most famous women in the Olympic figure-skating world. Tonya was known as the second person in the world to complete a triple axel in competition and Nancy Kerrigan was often her better in most competitions. I, Tonya takes a completely different look at these events and shows what "supposedly" occurred behind the scenes. Honestly, going into this movie I had no real idea what to expect. I bring this up quite often with my reviews and I truly believe that going into a film without a clue in the world as to what it about makes the experience that much better. For a film like I, Tonya that helps to make the entire film as a whole even better because you're truly surprised and engrossed. Let's start with something simple: the premise and overall storytelling style.

From the very beginning I, Tonya throws you for a curveball. It outright states that the movie is most likely a mixture of fiction and fact. The funny thing is, the interviews conducted are with the characters, not the actual people. This makes the story even more hilarious. Taking a rather common tactic in the cutaway to an interview for comedic relief is used exceptionally well here. Overall, the story of the film essentially follows Tonya from a young age, all the way through "the incident" and what came afterward. Honestly, I really enjoyed the overall arc of the story as it doesn't take itself so seriously that the comedy feels out of place. Realistically though, this is a rather dark story of Tonya and her upbringing so I think being able to place comedy into this makes it that much better of a film overall.

Let's talk performances because there really are so many good ones to discuss. First off, I want to give a quick shout out to the actress who portrays young Tonya, McKenna Grace. She portrays Tonya at her most raw and most dejected. Seeing her deal with all of her pain at the source was very harsh and for me, the part of the story that was the most painful to watch as a whole. Secondly, following suit with Tonya, Margot Robbie is at her best in this movie. The person that Tonya is is a rather nasty person overall, she's had a horrible life, she doesn't have any schooling, and she's a southern girl who only knows the idea that getting hit is getting loved. Robbie oozes off the screen of a charisma that is masking something deeper and there's a depth to her character and portrayal that you don't often find in biographical films of this kind.

Another strong part of Tonya's life is her often harsh and rude mother Lavona Fay Golden (Allison Janney). Janney steals every scene she's in with her straight up dry humor and pain behind her eyes. Being the reason that Tonya is what she means that she should be a character that should be despised. Truthfully though, I found myself rather enjoying her. Anytime they go away to an interview with her, she always has a hilarious comment to make about something that helps to take you out of a rather dramatic moment at just the right moment. Finally, there are two other characters that play a major role in the film and both work well as what they are: Tonya's husband Jeff (Sebastian Stan), and Shawn Eckhardt (Paul Walter Hauser). Both of them are rather terrible people overall, with Shawn being more of a lackey than anything for Jeff. At the onset of the film, Jeff is a rather mild-mannered and nervous young man who meets Tonya while she's skating. Quickly though he devolves into a despicable and terrible husband. Honestly, the film does attempt to make him a character you can root for even though I was never truly invested him in that way.

Finally, there's something unique about the way I, Tonya is filmed and developed. Firstly, the fourth wall is constantly being broken with multiple characters addressing the audience directly and addressing the story of the film to the audience (Lavona specifically does this often). Secondly, and something that I want to really make note of is the way scenes shift and how certain scenes are filmed. Often you'll see a video being shot from what appears to be different cameras. The idea with this is that each person is using what they have available to them to do their interviews. It also just adds another level of creativity to the film because when seeing Shawn's interviews vs. Lavona's you can see a noticeable difference in quality. While for many I'm sure it's a minor thing, I just felt it added a special something to the film overall.

Reflecting on I, Tonya as a whole, I haven't had such a genuinely good time at a film that has such a traumatic story than I had in this movie. For those of us who enjoy the story behind the story, I, Tonya may not be the perfect movie for you as it mixes biographical elements with comedy and parody in a sense. Even though much of this movie is filled with laughter though, there are some very powerful and very heartwrenching moments. The pain that occurs when you see Tonya powering through her emotions just to do what she loves: skate, is incredibly telling for the film as a whole. All in all, I laughed, I cried, and I felt my heart being torn out of my chest by this movie. I, Tonya is something unique in the film universe today, go out and see it as soon as you can.

9/10