geezer cinema: i, tonya (craig gillespie, 2017)
Saturday, April 23, 2022
Margot Robbie is an interesting actress. She's been in some excellent movies (as Sharon Tate in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) and she's been in some stinkers (Birds of Prey). Her roles aren't always predictable .... as bad as Birds of Prey was, she played the same character in The Suicide Squad, which was a good movie. She worked hard for I, Tonya, becoming a decent enough skater to make CGI less necessary (although was they did use was remarkably seamless ... shout out also to editor Tatiana S. Riegel, who got an Oscar nomination). She doesn't really look like Tonya Harding (among other things, she's nearly half-a-foot taller). But she does right by Harding, and she is the best thing about the movie.
One nice thing about I, Tonya is that it never feels like a standard biopic. Also, while the film is sympathetic towards Tonya Harding, it doesn't sugarcoat the character. Harding blames everything on others, and is frequently annoying. Of course, she looks good next to The Worst Mother in the World (played by Alison Janney, who won an Oscar) and The Worst Husband in the World. But I, Tonya is a warts-and-all portrait.
The multiple points of view, a la Rashomon, is effective, as is the occasional breaking of the fourth wall. Combined with the strong acting and compelling story, I was surprised to find, just as I thought the film was ending, that there was still half-an-hour to go. I, Tonya is not an extremely long movie (two hours), but I wonder if the pacing was off, since I was so thrown by the time remaining. The movie was never boring, so perhaps it's all meaningless.
Robbie was nominated for an Oscar, and while several of the other nominees were at least as good as Robbie (including winner Frances McDormand for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) I hope she isn't overlooked in the future, especially since Janney did win but the film is Robbie's.
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