As I mentioned in my blog last week, I have the privilege of voting on this year’s SAG awards.
So, I have been sent all the latest movies for my consideration.
The movie I was sent this week was “I, Tonya”. I had reservations about watching this movie because of what was done to Nancy Kerrigan.
Being from Massachusetts I felt like I was betraying Nancy in some way by seeing it, but since I am expected to vote, I watched the movie.
Tonya Harding reached the peak of her fame just before the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit.
She recently came out and said she knew “something was up” when she learned her then-husband Jeff Gillooly was involved with the infamous, leg-whacking against Nancy.
Alright now, onto my review of the movie. Margot Robbie played Tonya and Allison Janney played Tonya’s mother. You already know the plot line and I believe for the most part, they nailed it. At times I actually felt sorry for Tonya. This is an emotion that I didn’t think I would have before I saw the movie.
Tonya grew up in Oregon and came from a poor family. Her father left and her mother was a tough and didn’t show her much love, but her mother did support her skating career (to a point) Tonya had homemade costumes and it was obvious to the judges that this was the case.
There were times it was clear Tonya was a better skater than most but didn’t score well because she didn’t have that “polished” image the judges were looking for. Margot Robbie was pretty much right-on target playing Tonya. She had Tonya’s beer guzzling, chain smoking sharp tongue down to a science, and her frizzy haired look was perfection!
Allison Janney was transformed into profane, chain smoking LaVona Harding. At times, I almost didn’t realize it was her. Through the entire movie, she constantly insulted Tonya and messed with her mind all in hopes of making her an Olympic champion. (maybe just a champion of some kind)
Make no mistake, Tonya’s mother was twisted and Allison Janney in my opinion, deserves a SAG Award for her performance. She was just honored Sunday with a Golden Globe for best supporting actress!
All in all, I thought “I, Tonya” was one of this year’s better films!
