Margot Robbie Allison Janney McKenna Grace Sebastian Stan Caitlin Carver Paul Walter
Hauser Julianne
Nicholson
This film could fit into that category of
“Truth is stranger than fiction.”
If I weren’t so sad about the bad parenting and its disastrous effects,
I could have giggled a lot about the ludicrous reasoning and lack of judgment used by so many of
the characters. I did end up
having more sympathy for Tonya Harding than I did at the time she was skating
and this scandal broke out in the news, seeing (at least in the movie)
first-hand how little positivity she got from her mother and few opportunities
to learn sound judgment. Her two
coaches seemed to be the only helpful people around her.
In brief, this is the story about a U.S. figure
skater in the Olympics in the 1990’s, Tonya Harding (Robbie) who was the first
woman to perform a triple axel in competition. It starts when she is four years old and her mother takes her
to a skating rink wanting to show her off. The coach (Nicholson) tries to dismiss them, saying that she
doesn’t coach beginning skaters who are four years old. The mother (Janney) brazenly continues
to smoke a cigarette (against the rules), use the f-word, and later tells her
daughter to go ahead and start skating.
This is a perfect introduction to the kind of parenting Tonya received
her whole life. But…the coach does
in fact pick up on the child’s talent and begins coaching her.
The rest of the story is about the hardships
Tonya encounters in navigating the figure-skating world (she doesn’t fit the
“model” in dress or in behavior, and judges tend to be biased against her),
trying to work through a destructive, abusive relationship with Jeff (Stan)
(who sabotages her career at every turn), and managing to support herself while
keeping up her training regimen.
The value of the film is in shedding light on this particular story, but
just as much, in its depiction of life for children in this country who grow up
with few values and little education.
As in Sean Baker’s current film, The
Florida Project, we get a picture of what happens to children growing up in
impoverished circumstances whose parents don’t have the slightest idea about
how to nurture their children and build character with a good set of values;
all of this is within a culture that has little sympathy or understanding of
the problem.
In addition to the fine direction by Craig
Gillespie and script by Steven Rogers, the acting is superb, with standouts
being Margot Robbie as Tonya, Allison Janney as her mother, Sebastian Stan as
her husband, and Hauser as her bodyguard.
Accompanying music by Peter Nashel and cinematography by Nicolas
Karakatsanis help make the picture come alive and command your attention.
A docudrama that elucidates the
infamous story about Tonya Harding, a major figure skating competitor in the
1990’s.
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