I've admitted it here before, but I'm a little bit obsessed with Tonya Harding. Not in a creepy "I'm coming to watch you practice" kind of way, but in a "Damn, homegirl got screwed by the system" sort of way. That has made Margot Robbie's performance as Harding in I, Tonya one to be anticipated, and now that I've seen it I can say it was worth the wait. And now you can see her embody the Olympic skater and trailer park champion in the film's first trailer.
Directed by Craig Gillespie, the film follows Harding as she tries to overcome a poverty-stricken upbringing to become an Olympic figure skating champion. Unfortunately, she was deemed too much like white trash for a sport that only admired grace and beauty, and her on again/off again husband Jeff Gilooly didn't help her reputation. The film co-stars Allison Janney, Sebastian Stan, Bobby Cannavale, Julianne Nicholson, and Caitlin Carver as Nancy Kerrigan, victim of the knee shot heard around the world. Here's the synopsis:
“Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) was the first American woman to achieve figure skating’s holy grail move, completing a triple axel in competition in 1991. But success on the ice was not always matched with happiness in her personal life. She grew up constantly at odds with her abusive mother and fought for everything she had. Though an accomplished technical skater, pleasing the judges proved tougher and she was criticized for her lack of artistry and unconventional “trailer park” beauty. When she met Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan), he provided a long-awaited escape from her mother, an encouraging voice in her corner, and fatefully, connections to a sleazy underworld.”
I, Tonya opens December 8th. You can check out my review this weekend after it screens at the Middleburg Film Festival.
