I, Tonya - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

I, Tonya

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
When I heard that hey were making a story about Tonya Harding I initially laughed at my computer screen. There was NO WAY this was going to be a good film. Tonya Harding was once known as the most hated person in America during the 1990s, and to this day she has been ostracized due to the infamous incident with Nancy Kerrigan in 1994, just before the Olympics. ESPECIALLY when Tonya sold the rights to her story, and it was being sourced from HER account (to a certain extent). This was going to be another sob story, where Tonya paints herself as the innocent victim, and all those people who accused her of her involvement in the breaking of Nancy Kerrigan’s knee some 24 years ago. Little did I know that this was going to be the movie that garnered an Oscar win, as well as THREE nominations for outstanding performances, making it one of my favorite surprise hits of the year.

Everyone who was alive during the 90s new about the rivalry between Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan, and I was actually watching the whole thing unfold on TV as a teenager. I grew up watching the Winter Olympics as a kid and still love the icy sports to this day, and was especially entranced by women’s figure skating (I was a young teenager, and there were cute girls, what more can you say), so I was sitting front and center when this whole controversy came out. Tonya Harding went from one of America’s heroes, to one of the most hated people in the entire nation in the blink of an eye. Boom. One moment she’s the “rough around the edges”, but adorable, blonde figure skater, and the next everyone hates her when it came out that she was involved in someone assaulting her competition. Watching it unfold was incredible, as I saw an entire nation condemn the girl at the proverbial gallows, and watch as she was barred from the sport. Deservedly so I might add. I watched The Tonya Tapes as Tonya gave her side of the story years late, and while I don’t exactly think she was some innocent victim, it added a different twist to the tale.

I, Tonya does something absolutely extraordinary in the “based on the true story” genre. It makes it so highly enjoyable and remarkably accurate that I have to sit back and applaud the approach. Let me clarify this. The famed Tonya Harding story may never be COMPLETELY known to the world. There are so many conflicting stories about what went on, with Tonya having her side, Nancy hers, the FBI investigation revealing a whole lot, and then the court of public opinion having their say in the matter. This makes it EXTREMELY hard to get an accurate bead of exactly what went on, and I, Tonya revels in that sort of unknowable “truth”. The story is told as a pseudo documentary, told from the point of view of conflicting “confessions” from Tonya (Margot Robbie), Tonya’s mother LaVona (Allison Janney), her husband Jeff (Sebastian Stan), and various other people close to the infamous figure skater. Each one of those conflicting stories telling their own variation of the truth, and making it so muddy and unclear, that it’s about as accurate a story as we’re ever going to know.

We start out the film with young Tonya being introduced to figure skating at the tender age of four, by her brutally overbearing mother. Soon after Tonya is becoming the belle of the Oregon ball when she racks of win after win, and soon she’s on her way to greatness. Her boyfriend (and soon to be husband), Jeff is both a hindrance and a help, as he supposedly smacks her around, yet someone acts as her inspiration simultaneously (this is where the conflicting confessions come in handy, as they show us two wildly differing opinions of what went on during that period, with both Jeff and Tonya’s recollections telling us different things). As Tonya gets better and better, pulling in the infamous 1992 Triple Axel move (a move that was so difficult that only 8 women world wide have pulled this off, and Tonya was the first American to do so), we get closer to the “incident” that was the Olympics version of the shot that was heard around the world.

Tonya had received a death threat from an anonymous source, and thinking it was Nancy Kerrigan (her rival), Jeff and Tonya’s bodyguard Shawn (Paul Walter Hauser) come up with a crazy scheme to send a few death threats to Nancy in return and mess with her head. The only thing is, Shawn has a few plans of his own. In an effort to grow his bodyguard business he hired a couple of thugs to smash in Nancy’s kneecap, setting into motion one of the biggest scandal’s in all of Olympics history. In this take, Tonya seems to have no knowledge of Jeff and Shawn’s major plan, but her knowledge of the initial death threats makes her a party to the crime, making it even more difficult as the public eye finds out about the event (the whole thing was done by a couple of stooges who were so hilariously bumbling that you can’t help but wonder HOW they even pulled it off, let alone got close to Nancy Kerrigan). Tonya’s life goes from bad to worse, as the FBI closes in around the couple, and even her own family members turn against her.

The movie doesn’t go into how the FBI found out the evidence they needed, but it rather focuses on how Tonya and Jeff handled the situation. I was initially intending to hate this movie as it would try to lionize Tonya from her deeds, but instead I was amazed at how accurate the events were to the public records from those times. Tonya has a sympathetic side to her, but it also shows her flaws and horrific personality that put her there in the first place. The movie is a brutally dark comedy, and this by itself helps elevate the dark content to a much more palatable pill for audiences to swallow. Margot knocks it out of the park as a young Tonya Harding, and her crazy Harley Quinn persona is able to take on the nutty Oregonian with affable charm, yet still be so horrifically offensive that you loathe her as much as you did back then. While Margot is the center star of the film, I have to give credit where credit is due, as the supporting cast do an incredible job of selling the story. Sebastian Stan is amazing as Jeff, and Paul Walter Hauser plays the moronic Shawn with amazing accuracy (it may seem like he’s a walking cartoon, but if you’ve ever seen the late 90s interviews with the real man, it is NOT an exaggeration in the slightest). Allison Janney brought home the best supporting actress win for the film, and for a VERY good reason. The twisted relationship between Tonya and LaVona is probably the most visceral, and heartbreaking portion of the film. Giving it the much needed sympathetic angle for figure skating’s most infamous villain.




Rating:

Rated R for pervasive language, violence, and some sexual content/nudity




Video:

Shot using a mixture of 35mm film stock and Arri Alexa digital cameras, I, Tonya comes to Blu-ray with a really nice looking picture. The picture has been graded slightly to give it a slightly “dated” look, and certain interview footage has also made to look like old video tape interview stock as well. Overall, the image is very pleasing, with natural looking skin tones and crisp details. The soft look of the film comes and goes depending on the scene, but outdoor shots are incredibly revealing, while indoor shots can look a bit hazy. Blacks are usually very clean and deep, but certain yellow/green tinges to the film’s color palate wash them out at time.







Audio:

Universal’s 5.1 DTS-HD MA track is exuberant and enthusiastic, infusing the docu/drama with a vigorous pop rock sound track that fits in nicely with Tonya Harding’s own musical choices from back in the day. Sure, it’s a bit front heavy at times, with copious dialog centric scenes, but the film’s pop/rock score adds a weighty feel to the track, with great surround support and some really hefty use of the LFE channel. Vocals are well defined and locked up front as they should be, and overall this is a great sounding mix for a dramatic film.








Extras:

• Audio Commentary with Director Craig Gillespie
• Deleted Scenes
• Behind the Scenes Featurette
• Original Trailer

Final Score:
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All in all, I Tonya was a film that I never saw coming, and am more than humble enough to admit when I am wrong. Not only was it a great movie, but it handles the controversy over whether Tonya was fully complicit, or whether she was an innocent victim at the hands of her ex-husband with amazing delicacy. The contradicting confessional narration of the movie (and the hilariously fun 4th wall breaking) keeps everyone guessing till the very end, and plays both sides of the fence against each other to the point that you just have to agree. We may never know what happened, but I loved every second of the film. Universal’s Blu-ray is given good technical specs, and despite the small amount of extras, is well worth watching, and well worth picking up. Highly recommended.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney
Directed by: Craig Gillespie
Written by: Steven Rogers
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Universal
Rated: R
Runtime: 120 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: March 13th, 2018

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Highly Recommended

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I also first thought, no way, would this be a good movie but then I heard it was good. Hard to believe.
As someone who also grew up during this era, I will check this out.

 

[JBrax]

I was also very surprised when the reviews started coming out with nothing but praise. I’m not sure this is one I’d watch more than once but I am looking forward to the rental. Who knows maybe I’m blown away and pull the trigger and it gets added to the collection?

 

[Todd Anderson]

I agree, Jeff. This looks like a definite rental. Possible buy? We'll see.

I'm starting to run out of storage space! :-0

 

[mechman]

I intend to buy it. I enjoy train wrecks! Makes me feel good about myself. Lol

 

[Asere]

Thanks for the review. I will definitely watch this one.