Film: I, Tonya

GENRE: Dramedy

RATING: R for language, violence & some sexual content
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 0 minutes

STARRING: Margot Robbie (Suicide Squad, Wolf of Wall Street)

Sebastian Stan (Captain America), Allison Janney (West Wing, Mom)

DIRECTOR: Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl, The Finest Hours)

WRITER: Steven Rogers (Hope Floats, Stepmom, Kate & Leopold)

PLOT: Tonya Harding survives a brutal upbringing only be taken down by her ex-husband who intervenes with her skating life.  

FULL DISCLOSURE: I remember the stories way back when.

STORY STUFF: So apparently, Tonya Harding and Jeff Gillooly were interviewed separately and gave very different accounts of what actually happened. So, Rogers decided to put both of their stories in his script. It’s a very fun twist to see the characters tell us what did or did not happen. I knew about the incident but not much about the backstory, so I found it pretty interesting. The pace is good. There’s a lot of dark comedy and sad parts when you consider how unbelievably white trash they were.

ACTING STUFF: Robbie does a great job of humanizing Tonya Harding. You have to feel sorry for her. The real stand-out those is Golden Globe winning Janney who is a devil woman. I though Laurie Metcalf’s mom in Lady Bird was harsh, Janney is on a whole other level. You have to laugh at how over-the-top mean Tonya’s mom is which Janney plays to perfection.

ARTISTIC STUFF: Not much to talk about. The smaller screens for the interviews did not seem all that necessary. I did enjoy the songs used in the film. Haven’t heard ZZ Top’s ‘Sleeping Bag’ in ages.  

VERDICT: Three and half stars out of five

SEE IT IF: You like Allison Janney or remember the headlines
UPCOMING REVIEWS: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri