I, Tonya - Film Review

This week, Avon Cinema is playing possibly the best film of the year. Or maybe not. But in a year of tough competition, I, Tonya certainly holds its own.Starring Margot Robbie, Allison Janney, and Sebastian Stan, I, Tonya offers a different and more human perspective on one of the best ice skaters in the world (still one of the only skaters who could perform the triple-axel). On the surface, I, Tonya is a biopic about the fascinating cultural figure that is Tonya Harding. But the film is so much more than that - it is a commentary on the class system in the United States, and shows the treatment of someone who does not fit into the mold of what athletes should look and act like.The film, following the life of Tonya Harding from her youth to "the incident," is executed as perfectly as the triple-axel itself. For some brief backstory, "the incident" refers to the 1994 "knee-whacking" of Olympic hopeful Nancy Kerrigan. The screenplay by Steven Rodgers, drawn from real-life interviews with Tonya Harding and her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly, crackles with electricity and teaches the audience about figure skating and Harding's life without patronizing or feeling too much like a documentary. This script is matched perfectly with the direction by Craig Gillespie and film editing by Oscar nominee Tatiana S. Riegel. The movie flies by in an almost breathless two hours that is both hilarious and melancholic.Margot Robbie's performance as Tonya Harding from age 15 to 45 is revolutionary and deserves every bit of the Academy Award recognition that it received. Robbie fuses the public punch-line persona of Harding and the tragic and darkly funny private life of Tonya into an incredible performance: over-the-top, wild in the moments of pure insanity, nuanced and subtle with Tonya's vulnerability. The skating and the accent are nearly perfect, as is every frame that Robbie inhabits. I've seen all five performances nominated for Best Actress this year - McDormand, Streep, Ronan, Hawkins, and Robbie - and although McDormand is the clear frontrunner, Margot Robbie should win due to the sheer range and skill (both physically and emotionally) required of her role.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXZQ5DfSAAc Allison Janney, however, will win the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance as LaVona Golden, Tonya's physically and psychologically abusive mother. Janney's performance is over the top for 98% of her screen time. In any other circumstance, with any other character, this would be a red flag. However, there's no other way to describe or classify LaVona Golden other than to say "over the top." Janney's constant braying as Golden pulls off an incredibly difficult balance - you want to look away from the screen most of the time, but her presence makes it impossible to do so. Don't be fooled by the 2% of the performance that seems down-to-earth and grounded: Janney plays the audience like a violin with a bait-and-switch that is just brilliant.Rounding out the main cast is Sebastian Stan, unrecognizable as Jeff Gillooly, Tonya's abusive husband and eventual orchestrator of "the incident." Stan holds his own as the third point of this dysfunctional triangle.I, Tonya will blow you away. It's a film that taps into so much more than a sensationalist sports scandal because it examines the underlying resentment (and great divide) of the lower class from the upper class in the latter quarter of the twentieth century. The film is both relevant with the 2018 Winter Olympics and greater divisions in this country. When you watch I, Tonya, you realize that nothing has really changed.--------------I, Tonya is currently playing at the Avon Cinema on Thayer Street.Image via