Review of I, Tonya (2017) by Trevor K — 14 Jan 2018

It's often difficult to find the balance of portraying real life events accurately and delicately. And I say delicately because there's so many times when movies take the approach of brushing over real life events with a cheap and safe version of what actually happened. Vague, but true. However, I, Tonya throws all of that out the window by telling a fascinatingly outrageous story of Tonya Harding's upbringing, triumph, and of course the downfall following the Nancy Kerrigan attack.

The attack may be what you go to see the movie for, but it's far from the centerpiece of this ridiculously ridiculous film. And yes, I just said that. I, Tonya has irreverent humor with an underlying sense of heart (which I didn't expect), and oh it's also filled with the most vacuous of characters/real humans. You will walk out of the theater asking yourself, "did all of this really happen?", and the most likely answer is yes.

Director Craig Gillespie, who has done films like The Finest Hours and Million Dollar Arm stepped into unchartered territory with I, Tonya, and did so rather well. Whether it be fourth-wall breaking, heightening scenes to improve the effect, or even shooting visceral ice skating sequences, the energy of this film never stops.

Gillespie isn't the only hero of this movie, as it's hard to overlook the performances of Margot Robbie and Allison Janney as Tonya and her mother respectively. Producing as well, Robbie is clearly devoted to this role and it sure looks like she'll get some gold this awards season because of it. Her counterpart, Janney, may do exactly the same, as a scene stealer and brutally relentless mother. If I were a betting man, I may put my money that those two to win this Oscar's. So a wild story, told in an insanely entertaining way, makes for one enjoyable 120 minutes.

8.3/10.