I have never known much about the story of Tonya Harding, only that she supposedly had one of her opponents' kneecaps bashed in. I was not alive during the period of her fame and I was hoping that this movie would give me more insight into who this woman really was. Watching this film, unfortunately, did not give me much of an appreciation for her real story. While there were some fantastic performances and historical background to Harding, I, Tonya is a jumble of tone and narrative structure.
The performances and soundtrack were undoubtedly the best parts of this film. Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, and especially Allison Janney were incredible in their roles. While Robbie was fantastic as Tonya Harding, she took a lot more of a comedic take to the character. I believe that this might have been the film's biggest problem, but the way that Robbie portrayed her was still great. In fact, the best scene in the entire film for me was the courtroom scene towards the end. Robbie's acting really brought out the emotion that Harding must have been feeling after the ruling. To never be able to skate again because of something her husband mistakenly set up must have been devastating and Robbie owned this scene. Sebastian Stan played Harding's husband Jeff, who was an abusive and controlling man. I have never imagined him in this kind of role before, but he absolutely killed it as well. Lastly, Allison Janney played Tonya's mom LaVona and I believe she was the best performance of this entire movie. That can be seen in her newly-acquired Oscar, obviously. Her relationship with her daughter was very compelling and paved way for a plethora of great scenes between the two. The relationships are what made the writing of this film so interesting. It was great limiting the actions to three main characters and it truly showed how they all affected Tonya in the long-run. The constant verbal abuse as a child and physical abuse from her husband all played into the plot very well and was critical in developing the character. The choreography in this movie was utilized very well. Not just in the gorgeous figure skating scenes, but also with Jeff hitting Tonya. The abuse looked very real and while it is very hard to watch and triggering for some, it only added to that level of realism.
My biggest concerns with this film were its narrative structure and a lot of the direction choices. This film was set up to be a mockumentary, but this was the worst choice that could have been made. Throughout the movie, many of the most stressful scenes were interrupted by Robbie's narration or a testimonial-type shot. This was done with all of the characters, but it confused me and constantly threw off the tone. These testimonials almost made the actual plot of the film feel like a joke. While the humor and more lighthearted tone used in this movie could have worked excellently, the testimonials did not help that whatsoever. I believe that the director, Craig Gillespie, should have stuck with one of the tones that he was hovering between. If the film would have been done in a more grounded style with gritty background details and an underdog plot, that would have worked great. If the film would have been done in a more comedic style without showing the hard abuse and focused on her story rising to fame, that would have also been great. The problem was that these two styles did not blend at all. In many scenes, Tonya's story seemed to even be glamorized. This is obviously not okay because abuse is absolutely disgusting and should not be normalized. Even though it built her character very well, the film made it seem like it was just a part of being a woman. The soundtrack to this movie was quite a double-edged sword. The music choices were great and reflective of the time, but were used awfully. Anytime an abuse scene would happen between Jeff and Tonya, a very upbeat pop song would play over it. This was a very interesting choice at first, as it fit the comedic and lighthearted side of the film. But over the next few similar scenes, it began to feel like the music's only purpose was to lessen the effects of the abuse. I did not particularly like that choice and I feel that, once again, a more distinct tone decision should have been made.
Besides feeling very artificial in certain areas and a structure that didn't flow, I, Tonya is a great film that shows the true story behind one of America's most infamous athletes. Robbie, Stan, and Janney were astounding together and brought out the most emotion throughout. I would recommend seeing this film only to learn about the true story of Harding. But try to focus on her story and don't ever let abuse be normalized in your head like this film attempted to.
My Rating: ★★★
No comments:
Post a Comment