Danielle Solzman
The Tonya Harding biopic, I, Tonya, could bring Allison Janney an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as the figure skater’s abusive mother.
Directed by Craig Gillespie from a screenplay by Steven Rogers, the biopic stars Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney, Paul Walter Hauser, Julianne Nicholson, Caitlin Carver, Bojana Novakovic and Bobby Cannavale.
Interspersed with documentary-style footage, the film gives off a humorous vibe as we revisit one of the biggest events in figure skating history. Robbie and Janney deliver some of the strongest performances of 2017 in their roles as Tonya Harding and her mother, Lavona Harding. Janney could very easily add an Oscar to her shelves in one of the best performances this year.
Aside from some brief flashbacks of Harding and Nancy Kerrigan (Caitlin Carver) rooming together, there’s less focus of the rivalry between the two. While following Harding’s upbringing and early skating career, we get the details of her relationship with her ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, and how he helped plot the whole attack on Kerrigan.
Unlike the recently released, Marshall, Harding is front and center in the film. She’s not made off as a supporting player in the ensemble. The interview style footage makes for a fresh take on the biopic genre.
Neon will release I, Tonya in theaters starting on December 8, 2017. The film screens tonight at the Chicago International Film Festival as a special presentation.
Don’t get me wrong, I love both Robbie and Janney, but their roles are more “showy” (Janney has prosthetic age makeup/pet parrot, Robbie has a courtroom soliloquy MADE for Oscar), but in my eyes the MVP of this film is Sebastian Stan. He could have made this character a parody; an evil, abusive brute. Instead, he navigates that line so subtly and deftly it’s breathtaking. He evokes Eric Roberts in Star 80, but somehow manages to be even better.