I, Tonya (2017) Review

Title: I,Tonya
Year: 2017
Director: Craig Gillespie
Country: US
Language: English

Tonya Harding is a disgraced American figure skater who, in the 1990's, achieved global infamy after being blamed for the knee-capping of her Olympic rival Nancy Kerrigan. Her story made headlines everywhere; the media warped her character into that of a cold hearted villain. Presently, because of this picture showing the event in a different light, Harding is demanding an apology from the media for turning her life topsy turvey. 

In this film competitive ice skater Tonya Harding  (Margot Robbie) rises amongst the ranks at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, but her future in the activity is thrown into doubt when her ex-husband intervenes.

Based on actual interviews, the film begins with a series of faux docu-style testimonials to establish the cast. Set 20 years after the 1994 attack on Kerrigan, the interviews find Tonya long since forgotten. We see the abuse, torment and aggressive treatment Tonya receives from her loved ones and, as the running time goes on, we slowly sympathize with a character we had once thought to be unredeemable.  The picture does have a nice balance of drama and comedy to keep it from being too preachy and/or too depressing.

Considering how little trust the public has for the media, along with the President in Fat constantly claiming everything is "fake news", I'd say this redemption story came out at the right time. It's a damning criticism of the press; an institution that didn't care if Harding's life was ruined, just as long as they could make millions of the story. We've known about the troubling nature of the Press since...well, at least Ace in the Hole (1950) but it's important to be reminded every couple of years. 

Tonya Harding herself is critical of I, Tonya stating the she was bothered by the Scorsese' like amount of swearing in the picture. Many people will argue whether it's right to make Tonya into a sympathetic victim character, as Nancy Kerrigan was literally the victim of the attack, but I enjoyed the film and would certainly recommend it.