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A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Wednesday 6 december 2017
Review: Tonya Harding tale ‘I, Tonya’ sticks the landing

By JAKE COYLE Ice.” But yesterday’s me-
AP Film Writer dia spectacle has been
“I, Tonya” is the Tonya Hard- very good for today’s mov-
ing film you never knew you ies. It’s no surprise by now
wanted: an outrageously that the tabloid caricatures
entertaining reappraisal of sketched in a sensational
the Olympic figure skater news stories don’t always
who, in 1994, was involved do justice to the truth.
in a scheme to injure her The more layered truths be-
main rival, Nancy Kerrigan. hind scandals of the past
Resurrecting Harding from have made for some great
the yellowed pages of ‘90s documentaries (particu-
tabloids may seem about larly last year’s “O.J.: Made
as necessary as a produc- in America” and “Hot Cof-
tion of “Lorena Bobbitt on fee,” the illuminating story

This image released by Neon shows Margot Robbie as Tonya Harding in a scene from “I, Tonya.”
Associated Press
behind the coffee that was chain-smoking mother, ing through pain and prej-
“too hot”) and a number LaVona, and her perfor- udice as she pursues her
of recent dramatic high- mance is a monument of dream, only to be dragged
lights, like Aaron Sorkin’s brutal, caustic wit. In the down by those around her.
upcoming “Molly’s Game,” film’s early scenes at their She’s a punching bag who
about the woman callously Portland, Oregon, home- should be pitied, but is in-
dubbed the “poker prin- town, she puts a 4-year-old stead made a punchline
cess” by the tabloids. Tonya on the ice and smirks when the Coen brothers-
Craig Gillespie’s movie — as she skates loops around esque scheme by Gillooly
an “I, Claudius” for less re- much older and more well- — likewise a victim of his as-
gal times — isn’t a sober to-do competitors. But sociates — and bodyguard
reassessment of Harding. she’s downright mean, too. Shawn Eckhardt (Paul Wal-
It’s a winking, rollicking In one scene, she refuses to ter Hauser) rapidly spins out
dark comedy both empa- let Tonya go to the bath- of control.
thetic and pugnacious. It room. When Tonya pees “I, Tonya” has fun with the
reframes Harding’s story as herself, LaVona declares, various versions of the Ker-
an American tragicomedy “Skate wet!” rigan attack, treating it like
with some of the unapolo- And that is, on the scale of “Rashomon” for idiots. But
getic, this-is-the-real-Amer- things, not the worst of the the main takeaway is a
ica sneer of “GoodFellas.” abuse heaped on Hard- believable one: that Har-
‘’I, Tonya” is a peek behind ing. Once she finally flees ding, just 23 at the time,
a media circus that can’t her mother’s cruelty, she deserved better than yet
help going along for the moves in with Gillooly — a another beat-down meted
ride, too. leap from the frying pan out by a much-entertained
“I, Tonya,” written by Ste- to the fire if ever there was public.
ven Rogers, is introduced one. Their romance is sweet “America,” she says. “They
as: “Based on irony free, at first, but he soon begins want someone to love,
wildly contradictory, to- hitting her, especially as but they want someone to
tally true interviews with Harding’s career blossoms. hate.”
Tonya Harding and Jeff Gil- (She was the first U.S. skater “I, Tonya,” a Neon release,
looly.” It begins in a mock- to land a triple axel.) is rated R by the Motion Pic-
documentary style with “I, Tonya” casts its infamous ture Association of America
the characters — Margot protagonist, nicknamed for “pervasive language,
Robbie as Harding, Sebas- “Trashy Tonya,” as a work- violence, and some sexual
tian Stan as Gillooly — giv- ing-class insurgent in a glitzy content/nudity.” Running
ing present-day interviews and prim sport. She’s proud- time: 121 minutes. Three
recalling “the incident.” ly “poor and redneck,” jog- stars out of four.q
Their stories sometimes con- ging with bags of dog food
verge, sometimes deviate hoisted on her back and
and the movie — in a well- performing skating rou-
worn gimmick — playfully tines set to ZZ Top. Gillespie
pauses at various points (“Lars and the Real Girl,”
with characters turning to ‘’Their Finest Hours”) fills his
the camera to relay their movie with tasteless interi-
perspective. ors and period scrunchies,
The approach sometimes and scores it with a blaring
spoils the fun of “I, Tonya” rock ‘n roll soundtrack that
but Tatiana S. Riegel’s ed- plays across Harding’s on-
iting is kinetic and the per- ice triumphs and domestic
formances keep “I, Tonya” poundings, alike.
hurtling forward. Especially Robbie, in her finest perfor-
Allison Janney. She plays mance yet, plays Harding
Harding’s bitter, abusive as above all a survivor, smil-