I, TONYA (2017) ***

I think the Tonya Harding story had the makings of a great movie, but the filmmakers never quite find the right in.  If the story was told straightforward, it could’ve been a tawdry, trashy good time.  Instead, director Craig (Lars and the Real Girl) Gillespie and writer Steven (Stepmom) Rogers go for a weird hybrid of a faux-true crime documentary and quirky indie comedy.  Like Tonya herself, it’s full of grit and spunk, but it never quite sticks the landing.

Margot Robbie does well as Tonya Harding, who strives for Olympic ice skating gold, even though she is pretty much pure white trash.  Because of that, she never gets an even break with the judges.  The film chronicles the bickering between Tonya and her suffocating mother (Allison Janney) and her tumultuous relationship with her husband Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan) as she tirelessly competes year after year.  Thinking they need an edge, Jeff and his nitwit friend (Paul Walter Hauser) plot to “scare” Harding’s rival Nancy Kerrigan (Caitlyn Carver) before an upcoming competition.  Naturally, the guys they hire take things way too far and wind up busting Kerrigan’s kneecap, causing an international sensation.

As Fargo did so well before, I, Tonya shows us that most criminals aren't the masterminds you see in the movies, but your typical everyday dumbasses.  The movie also has fun showing everyone recalling slightly different versions of who did what and how much they really knew about the attack on Kerrigan.  However, by doing it this way, the character of Tonya becomes something of an enigma.  It might’ve played better had we seen her as either a total innocent or as a full-blown co-conspirator.  

Another debit is the on-camera interviews of the actors in make-up recounting the events that led up to the attack.  Although much of what they say is taken from actual transcripts, they nevertheless feel a bit showy and stagey.  They also eat up a lot of screen time.  Again, I have a feeling if everything was told in a more linear fashion the whole thing would’ve flowed better.  

I’m not saying it’s a bad movie or anything.  The cast are all aces and there are plenty of big laughs.  However, you get a sense that a straight documentary on the subject would be more fascinating.  (The real-life interview footage that accompanies the end credits kind of proves my point.)

Maybe it’s me.  Maybe it’s just because I remember seeing the Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan scandal unfold in real time on TV news and on the tabloid rack.  Maybe real life is weirder than any movie.

You do walk away feeling pity for Tonya, which is something I did not expect.  You get the feeling that there are more Tonyas than Nancys in the world.  One thing is for sure, there wouldn’t have been enough dirt on Nancy to fill a feature length movie.

Robbie is quite good as the spunky, perpetually beaten (in both senses of the word) Tonya.  Stan also does a good job at playing dumb as her clueless, but abusive husband.  It’s Janney though who up and steals the film as Tonya’s acid-tongue mother.  I honestly think the Best Supporting Actress Oscar is a two-woman race this year between Janney and Laurie Metcalfe for Lady Bird.   I’d be equally pleased if either of them won because they both richly deserve it.