I, Tonya

[Japanfan]

I'm torn between being disgusted that Margot Robbie is "100%" on Tonya's side and thinking that she probably can't say anything nasty about Tonya without risking a lawsuit, etc. But man...Tonya did more than just "being different." "Being different" isn't what got her probation and community service and a fine and a lifetime ban.

As an actor playing Tonya, Robbie had to try and get inside her head and her skin, so it's not surprising that she would be 100% on her sides. Most actors have to get completely behind the characters they play to pull off a convincing performance and understand character's backstories and POVs..

When she was doing the wrestling, she flat out said she didn't care if people watched because they liked her or hated her -- so long as she got to make a living at it because they watched.

So? She probably needed to make a living, especially if she paid off that $160,000 fine in full or part. I'm sure that participating in wrestling/boxing (don't recall whether she did one or both) was not a high point in her life, and she can't have been entirely unaware that she'd become a laughingstock. That would have to have hurt, regardless of the mistakes she may have made.

 

[skatepixie]

As an actor playing Tonya, Robbie had to try and get inside her head and her skin, so it's not surprising that she would be 100% on her sides. Most actors have to get completely behind the characters they play to pull off a convincing performance and understand character's backstories and POVs..

Yeah, I can see that, although once the filming is over, you would think a more nuanced view would develop. I don't see how any reasonable person could be 100% on Tonya's side. Granted, I don't follow Hollywood much and I hadn't heard of this woman before this Tonya film -- she's probably perfectly decent otherwise. But there are a few things that always seem like red flags for someone's reasonableness. Siding with Tonya or OJ makes me wonder about a person.

So? She probably needed to make a living, especially if she paid off that $160,000 fine in full or part. I'm sure that participating in wrestling/boxing (don't recall whether she did one or both) was not a high point in her life, and she can't have been entirely unaware that she'd become a laughingstock. That would have to have hurt, regardless of the mistakes she may have made.

I never said it was bad, just that I don't understand why a reporter would be surprised she will welcome even negative publicity when she has done that for two decades. It's a bit like being surprised that your friend the chocoholic is eating a chocolate bar.

In the interview I saw, she seemed happy about the boxing and the opportunity to make money doing something she liked doing. Maybe it was a brave face, but she seemed genuine enough -- or at least whatever her default is. Now granted, I think Tonya doesn't have a strong relationship with the truth, but I'm far less suspicious about this than I am about things like her not knowing more than she let on re: the attack.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

I haven't read yet is someone playing Nancy? Or is she not portrayed in the film?

 

[vesperholly]

I haven't read yet is someone playing Nancy? Or is she not portrayed in the film?

Caitlin Carver: http://media.tmz.com/2017/03/02/0302-caitlin-carver-nancy-kerrigan-getty-4.jpg

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Caitlin Carver: http://media.tmz.com/2017/03/02/0302-caitlin-carver-nancy-kerrigan-getty-4.jpg

PERRRRRRFFFFFEEEEECCCCTTTTTTTT!!!!!

 

[Theoreticalgirl]

Wow! Tonya has lost some weight in anticipation of the media attention.

http://people.com/crime/tonya-harding-biopic-i-tonya-skating-again/

That is an old file photo of Tonya.

 

[screech]

Entertainment Weekly has put out their list of 34 2018 Oscar Contenders (so far) and listed I, Tonya as a contender for best picture, original screenplay, best actress (Robbie) and supporting actress (Janney).

It's Janney who could run away with best supporting actress; her performance recalls Melissa Leo in The Fighter and Monique in Precious, two actresses who steamrolled the competition in the category in years past.

Though I haven't seen it yet, my gut is saying that if there's a nomination for anything, it will be Janney getting her first Oscar nomination.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Entertainment Weekly has put out their list of 34 2018 Oscar Contenders (so far) and listed I, Tonya as a contender for best picture, original screenplay, best actress (Robbie) and supporting actress (Janney).


Damn Really??? Nice.

 

[alchemy void]

I can't wait to see this! I am ashamed to admit I didn't notice Tonya's flutz but definitely all over that < landing.

The quality of the trailer isn't exactly amazing, though. I've seen better produced fan-made trailers on youtube.

 

[jdonavan]

This kicks ass. Can't wait.

 

[jenniferlyon]

Entertainment Weekly has put out their list of 34 2018 Oscar Contenders (so far) and listed I, Tonya as a contender for best picture, original screenplay, best actress (Robbie) and supporting actress (Janney).


Though I haven't seen it yet, my gut is saying that if there's a nomination for anything, it will be Janney getting her first Oscar nomination.

I'm floored that a movie about figure skating is getting this kind of attention.

 

[ZilphaK]

Re: "100% on Tonya's side"

Margot Robbie on Good Morning America.

"That was really taken out of context, actually...I was saying how my job as an actor is is to kind of find my character's point of view, and then believe that 100 %....Because I play Tonya, I'm 100% on her side, the way I'm 100% on Queen Elizabeth I's side, and Harley's side, and Daphne's side. You have to believe what they're saying is the absolute truth so you can deliver it with conviction."

https://youtu.be/VFNwdX5zyCg?t=4m13s

 

[Aussie Willy]

I'm floored that a movie about figure skating is getting this kind of attention.

You just combine one of the biggest scandals (not just a figure skating scandal) with a very highly regarded well known actress (not just someone who is on the B-List) and it is bound to get attention.

 

[Japanfan]

Yeah, I can see that, although once the filming is over, you would think a more nuanced view would develop. I don't see how any reasonable person could be 100% on Tonya's side. Granted, I don't follow Hollywood much and I hadn't heard of this woman before this Tonya film -- she's probably perfectly decent otherwise. But there are a few things that always seem like red flags for someone's reasonableness. Siding with Tonya or OJ makes me wonder about a person.

Robbie is an actor. She probably just put "I Tonya' behind her and moved on the next role.

I don't see why would you expect her to develop a more nuanced view of Tonya. She probably spends zero time even thinking about her.

 

[wouldacoulda]

I thought they used CGI instead of a body double?

I think they used CGI for the triple axel, body double for the other difficult elements.

 

[jersey1302]

I am so excited to see this movie. I have not been to a movie theatre in about 7 years.. I am so going to one for this if its playing in my city!

 

[wouldacoulda]

20/20 will be airing an interview with Tonya, as well as talking about the film. I have a copy of Tonya's book "I, Tonya", which I believe is the basis of the film, although I can't confirm that. Guess I'll have to re-read the book before seeing the film. No doubt Nancy Kerrigan is bristling at the thought of this story coming back during yet another Olympic Games. This is the 7th time, if you include the post-Olympic media frenzy in '94.

 

[jenniferlyon]

Robbie is an actor. She probably just put "I Tonya' behind her and moved on the next role.

I don't see why would you expect her to develop a more nuanced view of Tonya. She probably spends zero time even thinking about her.

Maybe she's a method actor!

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Some dang good reviews!! LOVED this one.

http://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/i-tonya-review-margot-robbie-1202552743/


Interesting that it is framed as a fake documentary, with stellar performances.. I need to see it!!!

Regarding Robbie: "In case there was any doubt (some might say “Who knew?”), she’s a major actress. She plays Tonya as a trash princess who has nothing to cling to but her passion to skate, and has been so abused by life that it’s her karma to abuse it back." & "It’s about time we had a world-class feminine lowlife to root for, and this, at long last, is that movie."

it’s a serious blast, with a plot that zigs and zags (but only because it sticks, within reason, to the facts), and a cast of characters who are so eccentrically scuzzy that maybe no one could have dreamed them up.

Regrading Robbie's skating: "Robbie did portions of her own skating, and the scenes are thrillingly staged and shot."

I also find it interesting that judges have come forward and said she got lower scores than she deserved....

I must post one more quote...I find it poignant..... the last sentence of the review...... "In one of the most piquant moments of “I, Tonya,” Tonya sits in the kitchen during her present-day interview and confesses that she grew up being abused, then found an abusive husband, then found the ultimate abusers: all of us. She became our punching bag. But “I, Tonya” returns her to being what she always was: a great skater, and a human being with a dream"

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Im really intrigued by these great reviews..

1 http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/i-tonya-review-1037074

"Harding had a gift and was willing to sacrifice just about everything to nurture it. She was looked down on and insulted and beaten, then enjoyed a short period of adulation from complete strangers who were as amazed as she was at what her body could do. If only that moment of glory weren't negated by everything that came after it."



2 http://www.indiewire.com/2017/09/i-tonya-review-margot-robbie-tonya-harding-tiff-2017-1201874434/

‘I, Tonya’ Review: Margot Robbie Sticks the Landing in this Sympathetically Bitter Tonya Harding Biopic
Exhuming one of the most sordid cultural stories of the '90s, Margot Robbie lands the lead role of a lifetime.

"Robbie, for her part, has never been better." "Fun enough and full of uncommonly dynamic skating sequences (Robbie is a hockey player and noted New York Rangers fan, after all) and larger-than-life performances"


3 https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywoo...e-margot-robbie-allison-janney-nancy-kerrigan

I, Tonya Review: Margot Robbie Makes a Powerful Case for Tonya Harding, American Icon

Regarding Janney: "She also drops profane one-liners that bring the house down. The scenes in which Robbie and Janney go at each other, or even glare at one another from across the ice, are the most powerful in I, Tonya, and there are far too few of them."

4. OK, one more.... I can't help it. Who wants to go with me to cinema?

http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2017/09/13/tiff-2017-review-i-tonya-is-as-sharp-as-skate-blades

TIFF 2017 Review: I, TONYA Is As Sharp As Skate Blades

"Robbie is a revelation in this brilliant, blackly comedic biopic.

How’s this for a heap of hyperbole – Margot Robbie may just yet save Hollywood. At only 27 years old she’s killed it in a Scorsese movie, elevated a dreadful WB flick by her very presence, rocked a bathtub in The Big Short, made Will Smith look good in Focus and brought big guns to the severely underloved Z For Zachariah.

But it’s here, with I, Tonya, that we’re gifted with the real ramifications of her talent. For this isn’t only one of the smartest, most sardonic performances of the year, it’s also a film she helped shepherd along as producer"
"Yet in Robbie we are witnessing an entirely new talent emerging, showcasing her humour and grace, all in a film unafraid to assault you when it needs to.

This is a film as sharp as the skates Harding wears. Robbie is revelatory, Janney just amazing and the rest of the cast is equal to the task of bringing this amazingly American tale to life."

 

[skatepixie]

Robbie is an actor. She probably just put "I Tonya' behind her and moved on the next role.

I don't see why would you expect her to develop a more nuanced view of Tonya. She probably spends zero time even thinking about her.

For the promo interviews, etc. After all, to a knowledgeable person (or even just the general population with a negative impression of Tonya), Robbie looks a bit, well, nuts for saying that.

 

[Japanfan]

For the promo interviews, etc. After all, to a knowledgeable person (or even just the general population with a negative impression of Tonya), Robbie looks a bit, well, nuts for saying that.

I disagree. I think she would be 100% Tonya in the promo interviews and see nothing wrong with it. She could not have played the part well without having compassion for Tonya and seeing things from her point of view.

 

[skatepixie]

I disagree. I think she would be 100% Tonya in the promo interviews and see nothing wrong with it. She could not have played the part well without having compassion for Tonya and seeing things from her point of view.

The woman is a criminal, though. Imagine an actor saying he's 100% on Al Capone's side.

Seeing only the good in your character is concerning, truly, because you can't portray them as they really are. No one is all good. No one is right all the time. And Tonya was involved in things that were, at BEST, very shady, and a lot of people have opinions about those things -- pretending those things don't exist is odd.

 

[ZilphaK]

The woman is a criminal, though. Imagine an actor saying he's 100% on Al Capone's side.

Seeing only the good in your character is concerning, truly, because you can't portray them as they really are. No one is all good. No one is right all the time. And Tonya was involved in things that were, at BEST, very shady, and a lot of people have opinions about those things -- pretending those things don't exist is odd.

As an actor, yes, you are always 100% "on the side" of your character -- Tonya, Al Capone, Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lamb (if you want to take this to more uncomfortable extremes). (ETA: Bryan Cranston talks about allowing Walter White to "glide" and "seep" into him.) You can't second guess who you are, unless that's part of the character's character arc and plot line. As an actor, you can have opinions going into the script, but once acting, you have to be 100% truthful to who the character is, be "on their side" and do what it takes to overcome challenges presented in the story and reach the character's objectives--not your own objectives in playing some additional subtext in the moment based on your negative (or even positive) personal opinions of who the character is.

But this is all just the end product that comes after diligent, objective script analysis, and systematically breaking down and building back up the character via whatever acting schools/methods you're trained under (Stanislavski, Meisner, Adler, etc.) Strasburg is the guru most associated with Method Acting and inhabiting a role in a kind of complete overlay of actor's emotional inner-life with that of the character (yadda-yadda-yadda), but eventually, most all schools of acting demand that the actor find affinity and emotional (if not more deeply psychological) touch points with their character and devote themselves to the character's truth. 100%, if you're going for an Oscar, or even just another job.

Well...at least that's what they taught us in theater school in Philly back in the day.

As a side note, the general population is not known for their lucidity and even-handedness when presented with delicious possibilities for hyperbole via taking a quote out of context and fueling their hobby outrage over something new to be outraged about. Neither is the media. Click, click.

 

[VGThuy]

I, Tonya was recently nominated for the Gotham Awards for Best Feature and Robbie for Best Actress:

http://variety.com/2017/film/awards/gotham-awards-nominations-2017-1202594047/

The Gotham Awards are like the New York equivalent of the L.A.-based IFP Independent Spirit Awards. This is sort of a big deal because, oftentimes, nominees here get nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. The last three Best Feature winners here have also gone on to win Best Picture at the Oscars.

As for Robbie saying she's on Tonya's side. I think all the posts talking about actors can give us a lot of insight about it, and also about her moving on to the next role and not having a more objective nuanced view about her. Also, maybe she's doing a bit of Oscar campaigning now and thinks if she can get the public behind Tonya and adopt the story that the way her life turned out was due to being mistreated by the powers that be, which was a continuation of her being mistreated and abused by those who supposed to love her, then she can turn that into winning an Oscar being redemption for Tonya (even though Tonya won't keep the award or anything).

I can't help but think if Weinstein was still in power (thank goodness he's not) and if he had a big Best Actress contender going against Robbie, he would have planted stories destroying that campaign and probably get people talking about Tonya's bad behavior or having people who didn't like the portrayal speak up about the film's omissions and how they painted Tonya better than she was. He helped destroy many front-runner's Oscar campaigns, though they seemed to be a bit less effective than other studio's campaign strategies in the past few years.

 

[Japanfan]

The woman is a criminal, though. Imagine an actor saying he's 100% on Al Capone's side.

Tonya is hardly on a level with Al Capone.

And I don't think of her as a criminal. It wasn't her who delivered the whack, and the extent of her involvement has never been clarified. But even if she were fully aware of it, I wouldn't think of her as a criminal, just as an insecure and messed up person who felt punished by life.

Does she even have a criminal record? Has she been charged for anything - the whack or anything else (i.e. the hubcap incident)?

And she's paid for what happened many times over, and continues to pay with the release of this film.

If an ordinary person had whacked someone on the knee and injured them more than 20 years ago, it would have long been forgotten. Tonya will have to carry this with her to the grave.

 

[jenniferlyon]

As an actor, yes, you are always 100% "on the side" of your character -- Tonya, Al Capone, Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lamb (if you want to take this to more uncomfortable extremes). (ETA: Bryan Cranston talks about allowing Walter White to "glide" and "seep" into him.) You can't second guess who you are, unless that's part of the character's character arc and plot line. As an actor, you can have opinions going into the script, but once acting, you have to be 100% truthful to who the character is, be "on their side" and do what it takes to overcome challenges presented in the story and reach the character's objectives--not your own objectives in playing some additional subtext in the moment based on your negative (or even positive) personal opinions of who the character is.

But this is all just the end product that comes after diligent, objective script analysis, and systematically breaking down and building back up the character via whatever acting schools/methods you're trained under (Stanislavski, Meisner, Adler, etc.) Strasburg is the guru most associated with Method Acting and inhabiting a role in a kind of complete overlay of actor's emotional inner-life with that of the character (yadda-yadda-yadda), but eventually, most all schools of acting demand that the actor find affinity and emotional (if not more deeply psychological) touch points with their character and devote themselves to the character's truth. 100%, if you're going for an Oscar, or even just another job.

Well...at least that's what they taught us in theater school in Philly back in the day.

As a writer, I can understand that. It's a little different for me, though, because I have to get inside the heads of many different characters, not just the main character. Often these different personalities are at odds with each other. This would certainly be the case with a Tonya story (which is a true story, but there are enough unknown factors to allow a writer to play around with it).

 

[ZilphaK]

As a writer, I can understand that. It's a little different for me, though, because I have to get inside the heads of many different characters, not just the main character. Often these different personalities are at odds with each other. This would certainly be the case with a Tonya story (which is a true story, but there are enough unknown factors to allow a writer to play around with it).

I'm a writer, but I can not write fiction. The ability to create characters...that's a wizardry I just can't do.

 

[Aussie Willy]

And I don't think of her as a criminal. It wasn't her who delivered the whack, and the extent of her involvement has never been clarified. But even if she were fully aware of it, I wouldn't think of her as a criminal, just as an insecure and messed up person who felt punished by life.

I agree. I don't think she had the best upbringing, is probably not the brightest spark on the planet and very good at making bad decisions. But I don't see her as a criminal.

 

[skatepixie]

Tonya is hardly on a level with Al Capone.

And I don't think of her as a criminal. It wasn't her who delivered the whack, and the extent of her involvement has never been clarified. But even if she were fully aware of it, I wouldn't think of her as a criminal, just as an insecure and messed up person who felt punished by life.

Does she even have a criminal record? Has she been charged for anything - the whack or anything else (i.e. the hubcap incident)?

And she's paid for what happened many times over, and continues to pay with the release of this film.

If an ordinary person had whacked someone on the knee and injured them more than 20 years ago, it would have long been forgotten. Tonya will have to carry this with her to the grave.

She plea bargained for obstruction/hindering the investigation. How much she knew or didn't know or if she ordered the attack is up for debate -- but she did serve probation, was fined, etc. So yes, she has a criminal record. USFSA was also willing to state that she knew about it, and I believe she did. Heck, she later admitted to it, though she claimed she felt threatened by her ex and wasn't going to go to the authorities because of it.

IMO, the fact that she so quickly accepted a large fine, probation, community service, etc, is a good indicator that she had stuff to hide. Innocent people do not plea bargain.

No, I don't think she's as bad as Al Capone -- but he's another person who is a near mythic villain. He's also someone who could have very little proven against him, but everyone knows there's much more to the truth than just tax evasion or whatever they eventually "got him" for.

As for what would happen if an ordinary person did this -- if she were ordinary, she wouldn't have done it. Qui bono, and all that. Premeditated actions are also (rightly) seen as worse than acts of passion "in the moment." Bashing someone's knee in during, say, a bar brawl, is not nearly as bad as having your competitor injured on purpose so you can win. Of course, bar fighting is bad, unseemly, trashy, etc -- but it's still not as bad as sitting down, thinking it through, and deciding to do it anyway.