I, Tonya (2017)

Directed by: Craig Gillespie | 119 minutes | biography, comedy | Actors: Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney, Julianne Nicholson, Paul Walter Hauser, Bobby Cannavale, Bojana Novakovic, Caitlin Carver, Maizie Smith, Mckenne Grace, Suehyla El-Attar, Jason Davis, Mea Allen, Cory Chapman

Figure skating seems like such an elegant, graceful sport, practiced by neat boys and girls. But appearances are deceiving; behind the scenes it can be hate and envy. Especially when working towards the Olympic Winter Games, things sometimes get really tough. Just ask Nancy Kerrigan, the American figure skater who was the victim of a beating in the run-up to the 1994 Lillehammer Games. An attack concocted by the husband of her main rival, Tonya Harding. The intention was to break Kerrigan’s leg so that she would not be able to participate in the Winter Games, but because the ‘damage’ was limited to a serious bruise, she can still participate in Lillehammer. She eventually wins a silver medal, while Harding does not get further than eighth place. It would be Harding’s last feat of ice skating; after the Games, her involvement in the attack on Kerrigan is revealed and she is banned for life by the American Skating Federation.

After seeing a documentary about figure skating, screenwriter Steven Rogers was suddenly reminded of that pitch-black page in American sports history. He decided to delve into the life of Tonya Harding, the misfit in that otherwise well-behaved world of figure skating. He talked to Harding herself and her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly, who came up with conflicting stories. He decided to include them both in the screenplay for the movie ‘I, Tonya’ (2017); in the end let the public choose sides and decide who is right. Tonya (a shining role for the Australian (!) Margot Robbie) doesn’t exactly come from a wealthy family; growing up in Portland’s slums, she’s been skating at the local ice rink at the age of three. Her foul-mouthed mother LaVona Golden (played wonderfully over the top by Allison Janney) pulls her out of school at a young age to focus on a skating career; her father, with whom Tonya was close, smears him as soon as he sees a chance to flee his impossible wife. Tonya turns out to be a natural, who may not skate so gracefully but makes jumps that her competitors only dare to dream of. With skating suits put together by her mother and an unconventional choice in music (ZZ Top!), she makes her way to the national top, even though – in her eyes because of her origin – she is regularly disadvantaged in the scoring.

Things go awry when she hooks up with Jeff (Sebastian Stan) three years her senior at the age of fifteen. He mistreats her with the regularity of the clock, but conversely she also deals blows. As destructive as the relationship is, they decide to tie the knot anyway. Meanwhile, Tonya is training for the 1992 Winter Olympics, where she remains in fourth place. She breaks up with her coach Diane (Julianne Nicholson) and with Jeff, but still crawls back to him with drooping paws. Diane then persuades her to keep training; after all, in two years’ time there will be another chance at Olympic gold. While training at her “home job” in Portland, Harding receives a threat. When she tells Jeff this, he concludes that the threat must come from Tonya’s great rival Nancy Kerrigan (Caitlin Carver) and decides to meet his friend and Tonya’s self-proclaimed bodyguard Shawn (Paul Walter Hauser), a good-for-nothing still with his parents. lives, to get her back.

‘I, Tonya’ is about an unconventional sportswoman and director Craig Gillespie (‘Lars and the Real Girl’, 2007) therefore chose an unconventional style. The film looks like a ‘mockumentary’, in which the main characters – especially Tonya, Jeff and LaVona – regularly shed light on the events in interview form between the acts. The ‘fourth wall’ is also regularly broken in the ‘normal’ scenes and the characters speak directly to the audience. There is also a lot of room for humor, but without losing sight of the seriousness of the situation. Because no matter how funny or light-hearted you put it, the domestic violence shown here—physically between Jeff and Tonya, and psychologically by LaVona—is of course bittersweet. In addition to that violence, jealousy, struggle and class differences are also recurring themes that are skilfully addressed and therefore also reach the viewer. In addition to that pleasant, headstrong style and tone, ‘I, Tonya’ also relies heavily on the acting of Robbie, Janney and Stan. Robbie practiced on the ice rink for months and although the triple axel – Harding’s trademark – required CGI, she manages it brilliantly. Physically challenging roles usually do well at The Academy, but Robbie definitely didn’t get her Oscar nomination. Janney can go wild as LaVona, a woman you would most like to stick behind the wallpaper and shake out one powerful one-liner after another. Janney has already won prizes at the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs and the Screen Actors Guild Awards; would there finally be that long-awaited Oscar?

‘I, Tonya’ is lighthearted and uncontrollably funny, but the deeper tragic layer in this true story is never far away. Thanks to excellent acting by Robbie and Janney in particular and the pleasant and distinctive tone, this film is rock solid.