I, Tonya

I'm just going to start off this review by saying I have very mixed feelings regarding this movie. Technically speaking, I thought it was very captivating, using film styles similar to Black Swan for the competition scenes. The costumes and makeup were very on point and the music was also fun and engaging for the audience. However, I wish we could have heard more of the type of music the skaters actually performed to. Despite that, overall I'd say this movie was visually appealing and gives a small, yet accurate taste of what the skating world once was.

Some of you may know that once upon a time I too was once a competitive figure skater. I was very familiar with the famous Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan scandal since I was a kid. Many skaters grew up automatically hating on Tonya without even taking a glance at her background as a professional skater. So when I saw the first previews for this movie, I was incredibly intrigued.

Before I say anything more about this movie, I'd like to point out that I, myself, detest the type of person Tonya is but can appreciate the quality of a skater she was in her early career...which is where we start the movie off. As the movie progresses however, it shows you more of what type a person she grows to be and how she seems to have an excuse for just about everything that has ever happened to her...right down to a broken skate lace (which by the way, you should always have a spare on hand in case of an emergency).

(I'm rolling my eyes just looking at this real Tonya clip)

Margot Robbie, who plays Tonya, does an absolutely excellent job of portraying such a polarizing person. One minute she's screaming demands at the judges, the next quietly crying while applying her makeup in front of a mirror (which was one of the acting highlights of this movie in my opinion). I give Margot a lot of praise because you can see how comfortable she is filming on the ice (which is not an easy thing to show) and proves the amount of training involved. She also mastered Tonya's mannerisms, speech, and was very convincing in her portrayal.

The highlights in this movie for me were the scenes between Tonya and her mother, here played by Allison Janney. The chemistry between these two is so captivating, and throughout the entire movie, you are left wondering who is really telling the truth. LaVona Golden, Harding's mom, has so much personality and Janney captures every inch of it, as you can compare with the interview clips during the credits. She's quick-witted, entertaining, and at times even scary. It's honestly the best performance I've seen from her and deserves every praise for her portrayal as Tonya's mother.

Then we get to the famous scandal years. During the "interview" scenes, I was reminded of a childhood book that I once had. It was the Three Little Pigs but told from the point of view of the "Big Bad Wolf".

That is essentially the entire storyline of the second half of this movie. You know who is guilty and the proof is there. Yet Tonya and the perpetrators want to spin the story to make it seem like they were simply the patsy.

You see how stupid some of the characters are, like Tonya's ex-husband Jeff Gillooly, played by Sebastian Stan, and it's almost laughable how ludicrous the "letter" plan was. Sebastian's character seems to be the only one who, in the end, genuinely admits what he did was wrong and did the time for it.

And when it came down to the epilogue scene where you see what became of Tonya, I honestly didn't feel any remorse...which I think is what they are trying to go for? As a skater I never really liked Nancy Kerrigan, but even after this movie, I don't pity Tonya...at all. Despite the incredibly rough upbringing, and being the black sheep of figure skating, there is always a right and wrong...and Tonya made the wrong decision to surround herself with people she knew weren't any good. In the end, this is a fantastic performance of a horrible act.

I absolutely love the acting (I'm sure there are many potential nominations/wins to be had there), the technicality of the movie was so engaging and on point, but the movie did not win me over to become a Tonya Harding fan...which, to me, feels like the mission they set out on. I feel like this movie is an interesting story but leans too heavily on Tonya's side with little substantial justification. With that being said, I give this film a solid 4 stars.