"I, Tonya" (2017)

I just want to hug Tonya Harding and tell her that not everyone will abuse you. But, I doubt she would appreciate my pity, and I'm sure she'd take my words and cram them up my ass.]

I was at an age when the scandal of Tonya Harding went down. So I wasn't all that interested in it, because, fuck...it was figure skating.
As a movie...holy fucking shit. This is a powerhouse slap in the face that looks like it was directed by Martin Scorsese.
Australian beauty Margot Robbie plays tomboy Tonya Harding to the most brutal, sad story of inspired talent that, by all rights should not have been bestowed on an Oregon redneck. While Harding wore her trash on her sleeve the rest of figure skating jammed it so far down their own sport they knew they wouldn't reward a girl who didn't personify femininity of the 1990's. Funny that exist to this day.
The story is of a girl who grew to be a rabid pitbull simply because she was reacting to a mother who was as cruel as she was honest. In the darkest reaches of trash, Allison Janney plays the awful, but mesmerizing LaVona Golden. Devoid of any womanhood, or the nurturing power of motherhood, she blasts Tonya whenever possible. Reacts to sentiment as weakness, and one wonders why she even had children. She is bitter and angry and spends her time toughing up Tonya to defend herself from the world as well. This is not a woman to deal with. Unless your daughter happens to have talent.
It's no surprise then she hooks up with an oddball named Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan). Jeff is an abuser. Physical and mental. The film portrays him as a simpleton whose main focus was Tonya. Somewhat of a surrogate of Tonya's mother. They admit it. Their wedding was white trash, as was existing together. As told in a tabloid-ish interview style, Tonya admits marrying Jeff was the biggest mistake she ever made. It was simply to get away from the abusive mother.
Without going into too much more, this movie is captivating. It was literally impossible NOT to look at the screen. I laughed a lot more than I thought I would. Learned new things about the incident. And, this movie clearly knows it knows what type of person who would want to see this type of movie. They address it plenty of times. Director Craig Gillespie is a filmmaker. He breaks the fourth wall repeatedly to have us understand we are getting their perspective. The title "I, Tonya" isn't just a title. It is a confession and a sign off on it.
This film rises above the simple biopic by making it a fascinating story about...well, it could be anyone. It still would be interesting if it wasn't Tonya. This is a woman whose sole strength was survival. Which, knowing her history...we know she will endure.
I love this film. It reminded me of some of my Ohio friends. They nailed that flavor of sub-par ambition. Those people who live up to the standard of just breathing. Delusional in a part of life that if they faced, but be too crushing to go on. What we can say about Tonya Harding is, her undoing wasn't completely a result of a moment with Nancy Kerrigan (in fact it plays very little in the movie itself). But that she still is making attempts to move forward. For someone who first landed a triple axel in competition and even to this day very few can do this, I would say...that's a story worth telling.