Hi movie fans!
Back again with another review! Just a reminder: I never do spoilers...and I strive to keep my reviews short!
OK, this time the focus is on Tonya Harding. You may recall the basics: Fantastic skater named Tonya is a wild child...goes to the Olympics...and is involved in breaking her competitor's knee. Charming! Haha.
When I heard they made a film about this bizarre event, I flippantly said, "Tonya should have done jail time." In other words, I had absolutely NO sympathy for her apparent aggression against Nancy Kerrigan.
Enter the film. In it, I learned for the first time about how miserable Tonya's upbringing was. I can't give details, but suffice it to say that she had a horrendous mother and possibly worse husband!
The result? I now understand so much more about the knee-breaker. I actually have empathy for her, which, given my preconception, says a lot about the quality of the film.
So how in the world did Tonya rise out of the cesspool that was her early life to become a world class skating star?
Therein is the fascination of the film! As we learn about the obstacles Tonya faced, we realize that not every skating champion is born with a silver spoon. Some, like Tonya, have to fight poverty, parental resistance, and abuse. Some, with pure guts and determination, emerge from the ruins and become stars.
Let's talk about the acting.
First, Allison Janney. Oh my, is she good! She plays Tonya's mother, and let's just say she takes being a bitch to the next level. She is brilliantly mean, harsh, crazy, and aloof.... a fantastic villainess!
Don't miss her great acting in The Help and Juno too.
Next, Margot Robbie. She got started as just another pretty actress years ago on the short-lived TV series PanAm. Afterward, she got better and better roles. As Tonya, she is perfectly shaded and multi-faceted. She seems to capture all the torment and passion of the skating star. Want to see her in an even better role? Go back and watch The Wolf of Wall Street.
Then there's Paul Walter Hauser. He's not very well known. Fact is, this is his big breakout role. He plays Shawn, a dimwit friend of Tonya's awful husband. When he explains his role in the Kerrigan assault, he sounds almost Fargo-ish. We laugh at his stupidity!
Overall opinion: This is a film NOT to be missed. It is gripping, entertaining, and informative. It teaches us so much we did not know about Tonya. In doing so, the film reminds us that there is another side to so many events that seem clear-cut to us.
Like ballerinas, skaters are a viciously competitive lot. They often wish ill on their foes...and on occasion, act on those feelings.
Tonya was a victim of a horrid childhood. She committed a crime. The film will tell you all about it.
I guarantee you'll no longer despise the infamous skater...and possibly even feel a bit sorry for her.
