By Paul Hall
Tonya Harding is a name that lives in figure skating infamy. There are some amazing accomplishments attached to her name, but she is probably more known for the infamous attack on a rival than for what she did on the ice. In the new film I, Tonya we get a glimpse into just what life may have been like for the figure skater who broke the mold.
At a young age, Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) could skate. She was introduced to her coach Diane (Julianne Nicholson) when Tonya’s mother LaVona (Allison Janney) had her skate her way into Diane’s class. It wasn’t normal for Diane to take on such a young student, but LaVona was not one to take no for an answer.
As Tonya grew, her mom pushed her at every turn both literally and figuratively. LaVona viewed it as motivating her daughter, but to the outside eye, many would view it as abusiveness. Striving to do her best, and not let her mom down, Tonya would frequently be bullied like no child should have to endure. And that bullying came from her mom, in what should have been a safe place.
But Tonya, stuck in this cycle of violence, always believed her mother when she said she loved her. That may have been part of what held her in her relationship with Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan). The cycle of abuse continued with Jeff. He “loved” her but couldn’t stop from hitting her. And all the while, she still kept skating, perfecting a craft that didn’t seem to be available to people of her social and economic stature. Judges marked her down for not being like the other girls, even when she was skating circles around them.
As our tale progresses, we get to the incident, the one that Tonya expects everyone wants to see: the story of the attack on her chief rival Nancy Kerrigan at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
The story of Tonya Harding is a rags-to-riches tale, with more rags than riches and more heartache than joy. It is the perfect backdrop for this film that takes a somewhat humorous look at some serious issues.
Robbie is wonderful as the champion skater. She exhibits the range of emotions you would expect from someone who at one moment is at the pinnacle while the next is reaching the deepest depths. She delivers lines and emotions both effortlessly and with a flair that grabbed me and held me in a trance.
Surrounding her is a very different performance from Janney, who has to do things that must have been difficult in playing the abusive LaVona. She finds a way to make us feel there is no way that she can love her daughter, yet in some weird way, I could see what Tonya saw. Or, what she wanted to see. With Stan as Gillooly, I found myself wanting to punch him and then pull him aside and have a talk with him, a forceful talk. That’s the emotion I’m sure director Craig Gillespie wanted to evoke from me, and it worked.
The Tonya Harding story is sad in many ways, but it is an amazing glimpse into the mind of someone who overcame everything to be a champion. She did amazing things on the ice in spite of her social status and in spite of the way she was treated at home. Will you feel any different about this controversial celebrity after this film? Probably not, but you may when you learn what went into the woman she became.
I, Tonya uses humor mixed with reality to deliver an amazingly satisfying film. No matter how you feel about her personally, there is no question — I, Tonya gets high marks from this judge.
Paul’s Grade: A-
I, Tonya
Rated R
Stars: Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney
Director: Craig Gillespie
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