Craig Gillespie’s “I, Tonya” surfaces as an unforgettable mockumentary

Explicit, unapologetic, real.

These are the words I’d use to describe “I, Tonya,” the 2017 film chronologically following the most defining years of Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding.

Having been born in 2002, I missed out on living through Harding’s rise and fall, which primarily happened between 1991 and 1994. Yet, her presence wasn’t so long ago–after all, Harding is only 52 now–that I could still guess what the public thought about her. My parents remember her as a controversial character, one with a “second personality,” where others remember her as an athlete who won their hearts because she sprung through the cracks as an imperfect young woman defying the odds.

On a scene of Harding skating on YouTube, a comment reads, “I remember being a very young kid, watching Tonya skate, and I loved her. She really stood out among all the robotic ‘ice-princesses.’”

“I, Tonya” certainly makes Harding out as a figure to remember: a figure who peed on the ice at a young age because her mother wouldn’t let her take a break from practice, a figure who endured several abusive relationships from the most central people in her life and a figure to whom skating was her only lifeline. It’s based on the interviews of Tonya Harding and her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly, reflecting their contradictory nature. The movie consistently breaks the fourth wall to reiterate or deny which each person claims as true, leading up to the incident with Nancy Kerrigan.

The casting of “I, Tonya” is perfect. I’ve seen Margot Robbie as Barbie, Harley Quinn, Naomi Lapaglia and now as Tonya Harding. She really is a chameleon, able to alter her mannerisms, voice and characteristics to her role. Watching a clip of the real Tonya Harding side-by-side to Margot Robbie’s Tonya shows me how well Robbie was able to imitate her. Harding’s story is one where you’re not really sure what’s true and what’s false, yet Robbie really made me feel for her.

Likewise, Allison Janney, who plays Harding’s mom, is indistinguishable from an actual violent and terrifying mother. She somehow manages to occupy a space that is darkly comedic while representing a family life nobody would want to have.

The tone of “I, Tonya” is propelled forward with feel-good rock tunes like “Devil Woman” by Cliff Richard and “Shooting Star” by Bad Company. The movie makes light of domestic violence and trauma in favor of honoring Tonya’s perspective, which is one that presumes these things are normal. Harding’s background, most notably her tumultuous relationship with her mother and her ex-husband, is shown rather matter-of-factly.

The moments which afford time for emotions are few and far between, but very memorable in their nature: Tonya’s dad driving off without her, Tonya with a knife stuck in her arm, Tonya trying to smile in the mirror before competing in the Olympics, and Tonya’s sentence being read to her in court.

Professor Luke Mancuso once said something like, “a good movie is like a rock in your shoe – always in the back of your mind and hard to forget.” I’m not sure why this movie stuck with me; I don’t really care about figure skating, I didn’t know anything about Tonya Harding before watching and I (thankfully) couldn’t relate to any elements of her upbringing. It’s probably the amateur sociologist in me that was so fascinated by Harding’s character–I kept wondering how her identity survived the constant battery and scrutiny of not only her family, but the entire world.

“I, Tonya,” with its constant sailor’s mouth, unusual mockumentary/indie style and contradictory accounts, isn’t for everybody… but it was for me. I give it 9 out of 10 stars.