I, Tonya

[VALuvsMKwan]

Are people boycotting I, Tonya? I missed that. It seems a bit extreme.

Call me a bit extreme, then. Fine by me.

 

[Japanfan]

How should Nancy Kerrigan feel about a movie that mocks her and tells a slanted version of the story of someone who may have been involved in the assault on Kerrigan?

I could agree with two things, and that is that it could emphasise this more, also that Kerrigan gets a raw deal.

How does the film mock Kerrigan or give her a raw deal? IMO it did neither.

Unless you are both mean that focusing on Tonya in a positive, compassionate way diminishes the harm done to Nancy. Which to me is

 

[Twilight1]

I watched the movie a few days ago and liked it.

I watched Karla as well.

 

[MacMadame]

Call me a bit extreme, then. Fine by me.

Are you really "boycotting" or did you just decide not to see it because you didn't think you'd enjoy it?

 

[VALuvsMKwan]

Are you really "boycotting" or did you just decide not to see it because you didn't think you'd enjoy it?

Really boycotting. Free country and world, right?

 

[Vagabond]

Really boycotting. Free country and world, right?

For now.

 

[Tinami Amori]

For now.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

I watched the movie again last night and I got to say how impressed I am with the movie and the acting.

And if Robbie really did do most of the skating except the 3 axel she did well. I am surprised how they captured Tonya's exact position/s in the layback spin.

One thing I still can't stop thinking about is that if they were just gonna send her some threatening letters then why was Tonya writing down Nancy's training times on the envelope.. Thats where I think her lies are SO noticeable and not thought out at all.

I have compassion for Tonya's upbringing. Watching the abuse and then her becoming a boxer of all things was hard to watch. When she says just send me to jail instead of the life sentence of no more skating was powerful.

Robbie acted well and now that Ive seen 3 billboards Im not sure if Frances should have gotten that Oscar. Although both said the f-bomb more times then necessary with the winner going to Frances. I think Robbie maybe gave the better performance.

The actress who played Diane was really good too!

 

[skatfan]

Finally watched last night On Demand. Good acting, terrific recreation of Tonya’s programs and arm-o graphs. Allison Janney is just the best.

 

[SkateFanBerlin]

Is this an Uber thread? Oh well.....The story was so known to me. Gilooly and company so stupid it was already a farce. Not much more for the movie to do; I was disappointed. Though she's done better work was glad Allison Janney got the Oscar.

 

[bardtoob]

Is this an Uber thread? Oh well.....The story was so known to me. Gilooly and company so stupid it was already a farce. Not much more for the movie to do; I was disappointed. Though she's done better work was glad Allison Janney got the Oscar.

AKA "TOO EASY!"

 

[Japanfan]

Robbie acted well and now that Ive seen 3 billboards Im not sure if Frances should have gotten that Oscar. Although both said the f-bomb more times then necessary with the winner going to Frances. I think Robbie maybe gave the better performance.

The actress who played Diane was really good too!

I haven't see the films with all five actresses nominated for best actress, so I don't know which had the best performance IMO.

However, I did think McDormand was a bit one-dimensional in Three Billboards. TBH - I think she has always been a bit one-dimensional. Amazing within that dimension, yes, but a bit limited in range.

 

[berthesghost]

I certainly haven’t seen all her movies, but I literally don’t know what to say to people who find the police office in Fargo and Olive Kitteridge the same character played in the same way.

 

[Japanfan]

I certainly haven’t seen all her movies, but I literally don’t know what to say to people who find the police office in Fargo and Olive Kitteridge the same character played in the same way.

I don't recall Fargo very well and if I saw it again, might be willing to revise my above statement about FM. I saw it a long time ago!

It just seems to me that FM usually plays down to earth/no-nonsense, smart, somewhat quirky women (including her character in "North Country").

 

[VGThuy]

She was shockingly warm in Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. I wasn't a fan of Three Billboards but I felt McDormand made that material work whereas not many actresses could have and showed more nuance and depth than Robbie's superficial emotional acting cues.

Speaking of Frances McDormand roles, I would love to see her character Mildred in Three Billboards take her character Marge in Fargo to task for taking too long to solve a murder and have Marge respond in her sweet way as she's solving the murder.

 

[berthesghost]

I just rewatched "personal best" which Mariel Hemingway made between "Manhattan" and "star 80". Now that's a one-dimensional actress! Even if that one dimension was a good one.

 

[vireo]

I certainly haven’t seen all her movies, but I literally don’t know what to say to people who find the police office in Fargo and Olive Kitteridge the same character played in the same way.

It just seems to me that FM usually plays down to earth/no-nonsense, smart, somewhat quirky women (including her character in "North Country").

Don't forget the young McDormand in "Blood Simple". I still laugh thinking of the scene where Abby explains that her husband sent her to a therapist because she has "too much personality".

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

I just rewatched "personal best" which Mariel Hemingway made between "Manhattan" and "star 80". Now that's a one-dimensional actress! Even if that one dimension was a good one.

One dimensional actresses these days are in order: (and just because they are one dimensional doesn't mean I dont like them)

Gold: Amy Schumer
Silver: Melissa McCarthy
Bronze: Reese Witherspoon
Pewter: Julia Roberts

BTW - Schumer coulda never pulled off Tonya in I, Tonya. It would have been taken as a joke and nothing more.

 

[Judy]

I watched the movie for the first time last night. I think the truth lies somewhere in between. I never had any doubts Harding had a hard life but I will always believe she knew some details of the attack.

She now seems stable with her current husband and son so hopefully this is the end of it.

 

[jlai]

I watched the movie for the first time last night. I think the truth lies somewhere in between. I never had any doubts Harding had a hard life but I will always believe she knew some details of the attack.

She now seems stable with her current husband and son so hopefully this is the end of it.

No it won't. Every time she comes up in the limelight, people will still complain about her getting away with Nancy's attack and blaming everyone for her problems.

 

[Judy]

No it won't. Every time she comes up in the limelight, people will still complain about her getting away with Nancy's attack and blaming everyone for her problems.

It definitely was the most bizarre thing in figure skating history. I remember it well.

 

[goldberry99]

I watched the movie for the first time last night. I think the truth lies somewhere in between. I never had any doubts Harding had a hard life but I will always believe she knew some details of the attack.

I still can’t bring myself to see the movie. It seems like most people know Tonya had some culpability in the attack and/or the coverup because people close to her were responsible and the fact that she pleaded guilty to hindering prosecution.

What prevents me from seeing the movie is that I think I will get too frustrated at how USFSA and ISU are depicted. I feel like audience members are completely buying into the idea that Tonya was totally held down, shoved aside, or picked on. My belief is that the only thing holding Tonya back from an Olympic gold medal were her own performances. If she skated a perfect program with a triple axel and inspired skating in 1992 and 1994 she likely could have won. Why she didn’t is ultimately her responsibility.

Kristi, Midori, Nancy all got harsh criticism and bizarre marks at times throughout their career yet there is no movie with those scenes. They were able to deliver when it counted.

Should I still see the movie? I’m not sure I won’t be able to turn it off in frustration when I see Tonya bicker face to face with the judges.

 

[Vagabond]

Should I still see the movie? I’m not sure I won’t be able to turn it off in frustration when I see Tonya bicker face to face with the judges.

I say go see it. It just remember that it is told from her point of view (and Jeff's), with some very sly editorializing by the film makers.

 

[Judy]

I still can’t bring myself to see the movie. It seems like most people know Tonya had some culpability in the attack and/or the coverup because people close to her were responsible and the fact that she pleaded guilty to hindering prosecution.

What prevents me from seeing the movie is that I think I will get too frustrated at how USFSA and ISU are depicted. I feel like audience members are completely buying into the idea that Tonya was totally held down, shoved aside, or picked on. My belief is that the only thing holding Tonya back from an Olympic gold medal were her own performances. If she skated a perfect program with a triple axel and inspired skating in 1992 and 1994 she likely could have won. Why she didn’t is ultimately her responsibility.

Kristi, Midori, Nancy all got harsh criticism and bizarre marks at times throughout their career yet there is no movie with those scenes. They were able to deliver when it counted.

Should I still see the movie? I’m not sure I won’t be able to turn it off in frustration when I see Tonya bicker face to face with the judges.

It actually surprised me because I thought it would be a really serious movie and it’s not. Despite this being based on facts I am not even sure it puts anyone in a good light but seriously there are parts of it that are hilarious. I think you should see it.

 

[VGThuy]

I still can’t bring myself to see the movie. It seems like most people know Tonya had some culpability in the attack and/or the coverup because people close to her were responsible and the fact that she pleaded guilty to hindering prosecution.

What prevents me from seeing the movie is that I think I will get too frustrated at how USFSA and ISU are depicted. I feel like audience members are completely buying into the idea that Tonya was totally held down, shoved aside, or picked on. My belief is that the only thing holding Tonya back from an Olympic gold medal were her own performances. If she skated a perfect program with a triple axel and inspired skating in 1992 and 1994 she likely could have won. Why she didn’t is ultimately her responsibility.

Kristi, Midori, Nancy all got harsh criticism and bizarre marks at times throughout their career yet there is no movie with those scenes. They were able to deliver when it counted.

Should I still see the movie? I’m not sure I won’t be able to turn it off in frustration when I see Tonya bicker face to face with the judges.

The things you wrote were some of the reasons I didn’t enjoy this movie at all because despite the disclaimer that it was based on interviews with Jeff and Tonya, the movie really has succeeded in making people believe the parts you stated actually happened and think Tonya was only a sad soft-spoken victim who looked down when talking to people but was a bad ass girl who was vulgar in a harmless fun way that only tight-asses would be offended by as Robbie worked hard to make Tonya look like.

Beyond the depiction of Tonya and the skating world, I found the film one-note, shallow, and highly unoriginal borrowing elements from better films and too aware that people would be impressed with the fact they chose to do a bio pic in a non-Lifetime way. I also think it was a low quality film myself with bad CGI and third-rate dialogue and treated its characters and their backgrounds with obvious disdain and for laughs outside of Tonya but also tried to be a movie where we reevaluate our treatment of her and people like her at the same time. It tried to have its cake and eat it too. I also thought the entire cast as was directed to play these characters as shallow as possible outside of Robbie and Stan. Robbie is incredibly overrated in this film and only hits shallow emotional cues and has desperate scenes where she wants to show off her depth of acting like the mirror scene before the 1994 Olympics.

But I know my opinion is the minority, but I’ll go against the grain and tell you you can skip this movie and not miss anything. I thought the movie was quite awful even if the character wasn’t Tonya but someone else.

 

[berthesghost]

^you are not the only Elaine Benice to this overrated English Patient train wreck of a movie, which gets really dull half way in as it is entirely one note, shallow and poorly made as you described.

That being said, I always tell people to watch things and make up their own minds. It’s just a movie and one can always just shut it off if it’s gets too tedious. But you never know, people love bad things regularly. I mean Full House was once a hit show!

 

[Aerobicidal]

What prevents me from seeing the movie is that I think I will get too frustrated at how USFSA and ISU are depicted. I feel like audience members are completely buying into the idea that Tonya was totally held down, shoved aside, or picked on.

I did not go into the movie with any agenda as to whether I wanted to feel sympathetic or not for Tonya, and my feeling was that this is absolutely not the impression the movie gave me.

The movie was not wildly unsympathetic to Tonya--for example, it doesn't dehumanize her or anything like that--but I really don't agree with it being a huge sympathy play even if some of the media coverage after its release might have created that impression.

Of course, different viewers will get different things from the movie. I also didn't think it was a good movie. I guess my point is the level of sympathy for Tonya is ambiguous, or at least arguable.

ETA: One thing to add--I would say that I, Tonya gives the impression that Tonya was picked on, but also that she probably deserved a lot of that. And the movie itself treats her like a punchline (and a punching bag) quite frequently as well, which is one of a few reasons I don't agree that it was trying to redeem her.

 

[Japanfan]

What prevents me from seeing the movie is that I think I will get too frustrated at how USFSA and ISU are depicted. I feel like audience members are completely buying into the idea that Tonya was totally held down, shoved aside, or picked on. My belief is that the only thing holding Tonya back from an Olympic gold medal were her own performances. If she skated a perfect program with a triple axel and inspired skating in 1992 and 1994 she likely could have won. Why she didn’t is ultimately her responsibility.


Should I still see the movie? I’m not sure I won’t be able to turn it off in frustration when I see Tonya bicker face to face with the judges.

I would say don't see it. I agree with Aerobicidal that the film was not hugely sympathetic. But even so, it did at least provide some perspective and understanding with regard to Tonya's life. As one would expect from a film called I, Tonya.

You sound like you want a film called Blame Tonya. This isn't it.

 

[Vagabond]

I would say don't see it. I agree with Aerobicidal that the film was not hugely sympathetic. But even so, it did at least provide some perspective and understanding with regard to Tonya's life. As one would expect from a film called I, Tonya.

You sound like you want a film called Blame Tonya. This isn't it.

I wish I could triple-rep you for this post.

What I, Tonya does spectacularly well is portray a victim of abuse. The scenes of Tonya in her middle to late teens, buffeted by abuse from her mother and abuse from her boyfriend/husband, are particularly well done. Watching them, I wondered how could she not have been badly damaged from this. That said, the scenes leading up to and following the whack do not paint a sympathetic picture of her, except insofar as they concern her relations with her mother.

This is the rare American movie that demands critical analysis from the viewer. If that isn't someone's cup of tea, so be it.

 

[VGThuy]

I disagree with the notion that people dislike the movie because they are unable to meet the demands of a film that asks the viewer to critically think. I do agree with Aerobicidal that "Of course, different viewers will get different things from the movie. I also didn't think it was a good movie. I guess my point is the level of sympathy for Tonya is ambiguous, or at least arguable."