I, Tonya

Brian in Mesa

Advocatus Diaboli
Super Moderator
Moderator
Supporting Member
Joined
May 13, 2002
Posts
72,876
Reaction score
24,561
Location
Killjoy Central
I, Tonya

Release date: December 8, 2017 (NY, LA)
Studio: Neon
Director: Craig Gillespie
MPAA Rating: R (for pervasive language, violence, and some sexual content/nudity)
Screenwriter: Steven Rogers
Genre: Comedy, Biography
Website: ITonyamovie.com

Starring: Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney, Paul Walter Hauser, Julianne Nicholson, Bobby Cannavale, McKenna Grace

Plot Summary: Based on unbelievable but true events, "I, Tonya" is the darkly comedic tale of American figure skater Tonya Harding and one of the most sensational scandals in sports history. Though Harding was the first American woman to complete a triple axel in competition, her legacy has forever been defined by her association with an infamous, ill-conceived and worse-executed attack on fellow Olympic competitor Nancy Kerrigan. Featuring an iconic turn by Margot Robbie as the fiery Harding, a mustachioed Sebastian Stan as her impetuous ex-husband Jeff Gillooly, and a tour-de-force performance from Allison Janney as her acid-tongued mother LaVona Golden, and an original screenplay by Steven Rogers, Craig Gillespie’s "I, Tonya" is an absurd, irreverent, and piercing portrayal of Harding’s life and career in all of its unchecked––and checkered––glory.

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media
 

Cheesebeef

ASFN IDOL
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Posts
91,516
Reaction score
68,795
heard wayyyyyyy too much hype for this movie before seeing it.

It was okay. My problem was Robbie seemed like she was playing Tonya Harding, instead of just BEING Tonya Harding.

I get that playing a real person will inevitably lead to this sort of thing, but I think of performances like Forrest Whitaker playing Idi Amien (that spelling can't possibly be right) and he literally disappeared into the role... or Jason Robards as Ben Bradlee or even Redford/Hoffman as Woodward and Bernstein. Just didn't feel like Robbie got there for this one.

And to be honest, the rest of the story... eh, seemed like someone was trying to make an epic out of a story that just wasn't epic in scale. and it just wasn't that compelling.

Shame... I like Gillespie as a director a lot. Pretty letdown here.
 

Bert

Walkin' on Sunshine
LEGACY MEMBER
Joined
Oct 16, 2008
Posts
10,139
Reaction score
3,234
Location
Arizona

Cheesebeef

ASFN IDOL
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Posts
91,516
Reaction score
68,795
Heard this movie is rife with lies, fabrications and fake news in general. Also heard they go out of their way to vilify Kerrigan and make Harding seem like the victim.

Good article about it here. https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost...ing-doesnt-deserve-her-heroic-second-act/amp/

So with all that in mind I’m going to pass on this one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They don’t do anything to villainize Kerrigan. That’s fake news.

But they it on THICK that Tonya was a victim of abuse her entire life. I don’t doubt it, but they did make her seem like an innocent lily as for the attack... and they intimate Gilooly might not have been aware totally either.

The movie just didn’t have any authentic feel to it, while trying very, very hard to feel authentic.
 

Bert

Walkin' on Sunshine
LEGACY MEMBER
Joined
Oct 16, 2008
Posts
10,139
Reaction score
3,234
Location
Arizona
They don’t do anything to villainize Kerrigan. That’s fake news.

But they it on THICK that Tonya was a victim of abuse her entire life. I don’t doubt it, but they did make her seem like an innocent lily as for the attack... and they intimate Gilooly might not have been aware totally either.

The movie just didn’t have any authentic feel to it, while trying very, very hard to feel authentic.

Was simply based off this part of the article:

"This bears repeating: In our #MeToo moment, how can Hollywood justifiably peddle such victim-blaming? It’s the equivalent of asking a rape victim why she wore such a short skirt, or a victim of harassment if she’d led on her perpetrator. The subtext is clear: Maybe if Kerrigan hadn’t been such a whiny, entitled bitch (her cries of “Whhhyyy?” after the clubbing are played for laughs), she wouldn’t have had it coming."


Especially since Kerrigan wasn't entitled at all. Her family was working class and her father actually worked 3 jobs at once at one point to pay for his daughters dreams.
 

Cheesebeef

ASFN IDOL
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Posts
91,516
Reaction score
68,795
Was simply based off this part of the article:

"This bears repeating: In our #MeToo moment, how can Hollywood justifiably peddle such victim-blaming? It’s the equivalent of asking a rape victim why she wore such a short skirt, or a victim of harassment if she’d led on her perpetrator. The subtext is clear: Maybe if Kerrigan hadn’t been such a whiny, entitled bitch (her cries of “Whhhyyy?” after the clubbing are played for laughs), she wouldn’t have had it coming."


Especially since Kerrigan wasn't entitled at all. Her family was working class and her father actually worked 3 jobs at once at one point to pay for his daughters dreams.

That’s someone with their own agenda injecting their own fake news into the article.
 

UncleChris

Shocking, I tell you!
Supporting Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2003
Posts
31,604
Reaction score
15,902
Location
Prescott, AZ
My sister saw the movie and came away with the same impression as the author of the article. She said it was implicit, but clear.

Maybe the eye of the beholder here? :shrug:

I guess it really doesn't matter, as I will never see this movie. The glorification of this unconvictced felon is something I want no part of.
 

Bert

Walkin' on Sunshine
LEGACY MEMBER
Joined
Oct 16, 2008
Posts
10,139
Reaction score
3,234
Location
Arizona
My sister saw the movie and came away with the same impression as the author of the article. She said it was implicit, but clear.

Maybe the eye of the beholder here? :shrug:

I guess it really doesn't matter, as I will never see this movie. The glorification of this unconvictced felon is something I want no part of.
Exactly


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Stout

Hold onto the ball, Murray!
Joined
Dec 30, 2002
Posts
39,829
Reaction score
24,048
Location
Pittsburgh, PA--Enemy territory!
Just got home from seeing this. You guys are really missing what this movie is. It is an absolutely BRILLIANT use of the unreliable narrator. It's trying to do this, it's calling Kerrigan that, it's making Harding a victim? The movie flat-out says ALL of it is complete BS and can't be trusted.

Man, did I LOVE this one. Laughed my ass off throughout. Thoroughly entertaining, and a great microscope to view the American media and viewing public through, as well as the idea that no one sees themselves as the villain in life.
 

Cheesebeef

ASFN IDOL
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Posts
91,516
Reaction score
68,795
Just got home from seeing this. You guys are really missing what this movie is. It is an absolutely BRILLIANT use of the unreliable narrator. It's trying to do this, it's calling Kerrigan that, it's making Harding a victim? The movie flat-out says ALL of it is complete BS and can't be trusted.

Man, did I LOVE this one. Laughed my ass off throughout. Thoroughly entertaining, and a great microscope to view the American media and viewing public through, as well as the idea that no one sees themselves as the villain in life.

No... I got it. I just didn't think it was very good.

That said, I know I'm in the minority on this one. Most of my friends loved it too.
 

Bada0Bing

Don't Stop Believin'
Joined
Feb 19, 2004
Posts
7,706
Reaction score
956
Location
Goodyear
Just got home from seeing this. You guys are really missing what this movie is. It is an absolutely BRILLIANT use of the unreliable narrator. It's trying to do this, it's calling Kerrigan that, it's making Harding a victim? The movie flat-out says ALL of it is complete BS and can't be trusted.

Man, did I LOVE this one. Laughed my ass off throughout. Thoroughly entertaining, and a great microscope to view the American media and viewing public through, as well as the idea that no one sees themselves as the villain in life.

"Everyone has their own truth." I expected this to be stupid; boy was I wrong. The style and tone they set was indeed brilliant. I was shocked by this one; very fun movie.

Allison Janney was awesome as her mom. Well deserving of her oscar.
 
Top