I, Tonya ***
I, Tonya tells the true life story of the American Ice Skating
champion Tonya Harding, her raise to fame and her downfall.
The film is really, proudly and unapologetically true grit story
telling. Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) is a product of her environment and that
environment is toxic because of the hard hitting, abusive, chain smoking, drinking
Mother (Allison Janney) who’ll stop at nothing to push her daughter into
becoming a ice skating champion.
The film told in flash forward interviews inter cut with the
back story of Harding’s whole life is directed with huge amounts of energy and
passion keeping the scenes flowing seamlessly in a ambitious stylized cinematic
effort that pays off.
The performances are really career bests from the lead
Margot Robbie who lives and breathes her part moving through various moods, emotions,
hardships, confusions, time lines and issues handling all this with ease captivating a world of
emotion through her face as if it was a second language.
Allison Janney almost scene steals every frame chewing up
her foul stinking dialogue of this detestable Mother and gives a performance that
should see her walk off with a Supporting Oscar this year.
The film provides great retelling of a event of 90s that most
of the new generation would have totally been oblivious to and gives traumatic
and very often comedic insight into a story that’s hard to believe but that’s
what makes it great entertainment.
The film is truly loyal to series of events that really happened
but in consequence the film’s narrative struggles in the third act with a concluding a story structure which instead has the free flowing nature of a true life story that isn’t going to have the same predesignated story beats that ultimately complete a neat payoff.
Hard hitting story, acting and directing produce a loyal
account to crazy real life event worth witnessing to believe, with Robbie proving
she’s a leading actress on the road to greatness.
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