I, Tonya (2017)

Sports biopics usually are a predictable genre as they portray the rise and fall of teams or athletes caught up in unfortunate events that are displayed either in the most exaggerated manner or with respectful taste. Among the most infamous of these involves a particularly bizarre incident with figure skating, which is one of the athletics with the least amount of physical contact. The controversial 1994 tragedy involving fellow skater Nancy Kerrigan being a victim of an attack on her knees was one of the most shocking because of the circumstances behind it. The investigation surrounding this led to fellow athlete Tonya Harding being guilty and stripped of her achievements as well as her lifetime ban from the competition. I was very young during that time period but became aware of it growing up and only knew the basic summary of it. This brings us to a biographical film focusing on this subject matter that gained critical buzz for the performances of the main actress involved. I entered the auditorium ready to see if the positive reception this Oscar nominated film is justified and left it impressed by what I, Tonya provided (if I had seen it before 2017 ended, it would have been in my top 10 best of 2017).

Plot: The story structure follows a three acts: Tonya's rough childhood upbringing, her rise in the competition while dealing with marital abuse, and the 1994 controversy. The narrative format handling these pieces are that of a mockumentary style where the key characters are being interviewed about the events from their perspective while introducing a little fourth wall breaking. This helps the film stand out a bit in how the truth is being told, even though it's about what you would expect in predictable sports biopics. The nature of physical and mental abuse being displayed is hard to watch uncomfortable, but thankfully is kept at a constrained level in comparison to how much worse it actually was (similar to that of the Algiers Motel incident shown in Detroit). The amount of it, however, can get a little tiring after seeing a lot of present, though the craziness of it depends on who's implementing the pain.

It should be worth noting despite some of the standard plot elements being used here, there are sections that are executed very well, particularly the ice skating. There are some weird small moments during those sequences where the computer imaging of the characters face that's pretty noticeable if looked at closely, though it happens a few times. Because of the mockumentary structure, the tone being presented can get a little inconsistent depending on who's talking. In addition to that, these moments being address can be exaggerated to an extent (to the point where some of the fourth wall breaking tends to comment on it). Overall I, Tonya follows a standard three act plot, which manages to mix things up by allowing the narrative to adopt a mockumentary style that carries some meta commentary on the events taking place while allowing these crazy affair to be bolstered by the leads portrayals.

Characters: The leading people to focus on are Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie), LaVona Golden (Allison Janney), and Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan). Tonya is our aspiring athlete whose harsh background and struggles in the competition collides with an infamous altercation. Margot gives one of her best performances as she leads this bizarre story as an abused figure skater whose body and mindset were constantly being battered down and taken advantage of by those close to her. LaVona is Tonya's heartless vain mother whose inflicted terror scars her daughter pretty rough. Allison is another strong actress to watch out for with how her scene stealing mean demeanor matches incredibly to the real life person (a video of LaVona is shown in the end credits).

Jeff is Tonya's horrible, manipulative husband whose actions ruin her life even harder than her own mom. Sebastian is impressive is this role as he manages to act unhinged and works to smooth talk in order to benefit himself. He even surprised me to the point where I can't look at his Marvel Cinematic Universe role the same way ever again (yes Bucky fans, your favorite character with a questionable haircut isn't as a nice of a guy that Captain America tries to vouch for). Honorable mentions goes to Diane Rawlsen (Julianne Nicholson) and Shawn Eckhardt (Paul Walter Hauser) with the former being the only good person among the mess of morons while the latter is the most comedically incompetent to the point of disbelief. If you are wondering if the aforementioned people here are either exaggerated or exactly on point, the end credits will probably surprise you in how accurate they got it with the standard real life footage. 

Overall Consensus: I, Tonya manages to take a standard genre and ends up providing a crazy experience that's bolstered by the bizarre real life events and the performances of its lead actors. ⭑⭑⭑⭑🎟 Runtime: 2 hours 10 minutes R

Reasons to watch it: You like any of the aforementioned actors. You enjoy sports biopic, regardless of how standard and predictable the structure is. You want to judge the performances of Margot Robbie and Allison Janney in terms of Oscar chances in their categories (leading actress and supporting actress, respectively). You are interested in seeing how the 1994 controversy and its ramifications are handled. You like watching figure skating choreography. You 

Reasons to avoid it: You dislike any of the aforementioned actors. You hate sports biopics. You are mad at aforementioned figure skating fiasco and don't want to be reminded of it in any media. You don't care much about Oscar contending entries. You don't like watching people with the redneck, white trash backgrounds. You are sensitive to observing physical and mental abuse from family members in movies. 

Coming up next: February Frenzy is off to a solid start with the last Oscar nominated film that has been reviewed here. With 2018's anticipated blockbusters around the corner, it's time to get ready for their arrival and it's going to start with Marvel taking on a fascinating opportunity. With Black History month going on and an African American superhero who was introduced in Captain America Civil War entering into his own film, Screening Spectacles will be taking on the 18th film from the studio and will see whether Marvel will actually do something unique given the right set of circumstances they have with the character or if they will play it safe with the same generic overrated films from 2017 (Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok)! Sharpen your claws and get ready for a field trip to the fictional country Wakanda with Black Panther!!!