Review of I, Tonya (2017) by Kevin F — 24 Apr 2018

It wasn't her fault.

Uncovering the most controversial scandals in sports history has become cannon fodder for some writers this season. Late last year, Netflix's eye-opening documentary, "Icarus," faced up to the dishonest doping method created for hundreds of cyclists and athletes consciously by way of a narrative enough expressive and refined to take home one coveted Academy Award. In other circumstances, the seventh art chose to portray one of the most talked and paralyzing "incidents" in the history of female figure skating, Tonya Maxene Harding's.

The Olympics had become a true reality show in a jiffy, the first American skater who landed a historic triple axel in international competition became rudely famous on ice just after getting drawn into the attack on her main rival Nancy Kerrigan with just over a month remaining until the XVII Olympic Winter Games in and around Lillehammer, Norway; an international multi-sport event that would mark a watershed for the career of the famous athlete. However, the film finds the space to focus on key moments apart from that trouble, which only comes up on screen running half of the runtime, since the first hour is reserved for purposes explicitly corresponding to the film biopic subject, as it draws two fundamental periods in the life of the unfriendly woman: her childhood, which involves her mother and her first training sessions, and her girlhood, which involves her early husband and hard professional training. These two stages radically redirect the way of her life, once they have truly delicate repercussions that justify, sadly, the aggressive thinking and acting of this rough athlete.

It's not necessary to say that, in the first period, who seizes the story is Allison Janney, an Oscar-winning actress who plays the figure-skating prodigy's chain-smoking, domineering soulless mother. Paradoxically, 'Golden' is the last name of the unforgiving woman who puts her little daughter under extreme daily routines, progressively getting her to an irreversible point, nonetheless, although it's difficult to accept, it's she who forcibly molds- maybe in excess -her daughter's competitive spirit through abuse, insult, and contempt; unforgettable traumatic memories that didn't mean a barrier to Tonya's golden dreams. At an acting level, Janney is superb as LaVona, a character who demanded a complicated search for humanity amongst so much revulsion and coldness. Surprisingly, she gets it by using her overwhelming talent that knows the exact point between containment and emotional overflow. The supporting cast is of vital importance for the correct development of the central narrative and it seems that the veteran actress knows it because she catches everyone's attention steals in the few scenes she's on screen. The balance between the sharp comicalness of her lines and the tremendous drama provokes that, somehow or other, the audience switches to a defensive mode with the character, that is to say, that it's a strange kind of powerful antagonist that pops up in a wonderful portrait of the ambitious broken dreams. From the other angle, the character counterweight rests on the tiny shoulders of Mckenna Grace, who plays Tonya in the 8-12 age range; a sweet cute girl who performs admirable dramatic scenes, especially one involving her father. One more promising actress to keep an eye on.

In the second stage, two big screen giants take the lead, the actors who must handle the rest of the story. On the one hand, there is an unexpectedly fiery Sebastian Stan, whose performance reveals an overwhelming dramatic range, necessary and extremely functional to the story because of his character, Jeff, the demagogical violent husband of the skater, molds the full story as he's a key piece in all this game. Stan's character background is well-assembled, at least, in terms of his towards the rebel protagonist, since he sticks with the story as exactly a supporting narrative agent, as everything must hinge on her. Jeff is a great gamble in the mind of any actor because, as well as requiring a serious dedication and a keen eye to take the right positions in the right circumstances, it comes with a deep analysis on unwavering machismo in that time, however, also involves peculiarity portraying certain relationships in which women don't decide to cut a toxic relationship off. Stan left me speechless with the first blow, I didn't think at all that his role would take a turn as exciting as disturbing, likewise, by becoming the abusive second architect of Tonya's lacerated life, will hog a recurring importance that opens the way to the big event. And the big star of the show comes into play: Margot Robbie. Leaving behind characters too "commercial", lately, Robbie has tried to join the best-actress radar by deferring less extravagant roles, more truthful and imperfect with which she has got to raise enough stir to be considered an authentic acting beast. With an acting career composed of dramas such as "Goodbye Christopher Robin" by Simon Curtis, "The Wolf of Wall Street" by Martin Scorsese or "Mary Queen of Scots" by Josie Rourke, now, she has come into the hands of Craig Gillespie, who gives her the role she needed to reach the top of the female interpretative podium working in the world of American cinema today. The actress plays the title figure skater, Tonya, who must stand earnest personal falls throughout her life to understand that most of those unfortunate events coming her way almost daily have been consequences of the past, that "it's never my fault" card, repeated constantly by her, proves the irreverently empowered spirit of the woman, one which won't embrace man's injustice. The character is very caustic but deeply disturbing from the perspective in which the story exhibits it, the audience connects immediately with its rocky ascent; a connection achieved because of the imposing script that lays on the table hundreds of opportunities that Robbie takes advantage in the best way possible, situations pretending to put her at risk, but actually provoking the opposite effect: to show how strong and powerful is her after getting punched in the face, being attacked by the back or getting a knife in her arm. The character-acting relation works one hundred per cent with Margot, she takes over the whole story and doesn't care, the viewer wants her to meet her goals yet consider that certain of her actions are not the right ones, we rationalize the mistakes because the film transforms the spectator into an honest merciful human being about all the bad stuff happening to her, especially at that stage when Tonya faces a sour adulthood bordering the depressive feelings and thoughs, a situation associated with the reality of thousands of women today who tolerate daily beatings from their fathers, their lovers, their husbands or any kind of person. Furthermore, the script works much better than hundreds of "follow-your-dreams-and-anything-is-possible" stories, and it goes beyond because eliminates a sort of fairy tale perspective by a point of treatment just a bit optimistic, more tied to reality, less fantasy and it's phenomenal that this happens because it gets a more intimate impact, equally, it's much more valuable that this comes from a female protagonist role, just a few stories have arrived at the cinemas with the required quality.

The third stage can be named as the grand finale, the one that thousands of people in the 94's knew, yes, that "incident". Being a biopic, the film must synthesize with a keen sense the key facts on the star, this time, of course, such events were responsible for the future of the skater, who being involved in the attack of her main skating rival, saw her dreams go up in flames: to win an Olympic medal, wowing the whole world with a phenomenal triple axel. According to the film, everything that entails the final act serves to showcase the numerous gender gaps, from sentencing to an irritating talk with a sheriff who doesn't arrest a "gentleman" who has just shot his wife, deliberately overlooking countless crimes prior to this one. In this field, the film works as a social commentary about the ever-present machismo, violence and deceit, on how stereotypes can still influence the scope of your dreams. Again, Stan and Robbie are in play, who must finish the film with their most powerful tools, and they do, because our Bucky Barnes and Harley Quinn radiate strength, energy and veracity, even when their characters are opposites. A clear genre switch is perceived in this part, as it replaces the kind of black humor comedy with drama, and then jump to a singular thriller against the clock about the search for the culprit, a risky bet that could hurt the excellent dramatic construction that was being set up to that point. Besides, the whodunit sub-plot doesn't upstage the storyline, instead, it's articulated when it should and when it doesn't, allows the main story to follow its course to re-incorporate in the end, because we're there to see Tonya's full heap of trouble and that aspect has an important role. The fantastic ending doesn't admit improvement as it agrees emphatically with the casual kinetic personality that pervades all the footage, giving a coherent message about what happened that day, a message about the broken dreams of a woman who never broke down, who never accept a weak determinant, a woman who always won. It should be noted, in general terms, the excellent interpretive feast of the cast as a whole because they practically recreate with their performances the videotape recordings projected in the final credits, you can evidence the neat effort in their portrayals, amazing and terribly close to real life.

Artistically and technically, Gillespie's film excels, first of all, by the precise handling of incomparable framing and angles, putting in the second place its cinematography and the staging of other moments. Film inventiveness concerning the photographic stuff underlines what the script doesn't achieve by means of a simple but vivacious visual power, never falling into plasticity and always treating the vision of the director with respect. An unexpected and rebellious fourth wall breaking is highlighted, an unaccustomed technique in a drama and even more in a film of this nature, smashing the traditional rules imposed for biographical adaptations, it endows the film with an interesting satirical air that together with mockumentary style with which present the dramatized interviews, present an enviable balance between black humor and sentimental drama. Peter Nashel's soundtrack displays great hits of yesteryear that match with the tone and timing of the sequences, however, the compositions explicitly created for the film don't get the same impact or importance of the classic songs, it's a real flaw that a vital aspect like this does not get what it should.

"I, Tonya" by Australian Craig Gillespie manufactures an aggressive portrayal about broken dreams, ambitions and success, vices, repercussions and defeats, working as, in addition to a voyeuristic and enlightening vehicle for the events that stirred the sporting world, an opportunity for gifted actors to push to the limit their interpretative skills. Stan, Robbie, and Janney keep firm the story from beginning to end with their impressive talent, fortifying Gillespie's intriguing vision and strange career, a filmmaker who with more indie stories could make a space among the giants. Incendiary, intense and praiseworthy acted, this film definitely puts a spotlight on actress-turned-producer Margot Robbie while showing a sweeping and realistic cinematic look at an event of unimaginable media outreach.