Viewed in Chicago on February 24th. Craig Gillespie directed this mockumentary style biopic about infamous figure skater, Tonya Harding. The film follows Harding's life from her start in figure skating as a 3 year old through her participation in the 1994 Winter Olympic and of course her involvement in the attack on her rival, Nancy Kerrigan.
Gillespie and writer Steven Rogers paint a sympathetic picture of Tonya's life. Her mother LaVona (played brilliantly by Allison Janney) makes the "The Great Santini" look like Ward Cleaver as a parent. Tonya makes suspect decisions, like her relationship with Jeff Gillooly that started when she was 15 years old but she never had a normal upbringing and never had a nurturing environment. She never really had a chance as a skater because she didn't "fit the mold" of what a female figure skater was. She got robbed by judges because she was poor and unrefined (to be fair, Kerrigan came from a working class family and was not privileged by any means but compared to Tonya she comes off that way) and was always an outsider.
Margot Robbie is excellent as Harding. Allison Janney won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance and Sebastian Stan did a very nice job as Gillooly (another gem of a human being). Gillooly and the guys he brought in to go after Kerrigan come off as bumbling criminals. Paul Walter Hauser is a scene stealer as Gillooly's delusional pal and bodyguard to Tonya, Shawn Eckhardt. The film does not explore Harding's involvement with the plot on Kerrigan, but it does let it sit out there to ponder.
This film received a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 90% that is right on the money. Well directed, well written and well acted. A picture that is worth watching.
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