I, Tonya

So it begins, 2018. A new year for movies of all kinds, big and small. Around this first month of January, a lot of what we usually get is action and horror movies that studios don't have a lot of confidence in usually and a lot of Oscar contenders finally getting big screen releases or wide releases across the nation. I hope to review more movies than I did last year as well. I want to focus more on smaller and original movies, or movies that aren't part of a huge franchise like Marvel, DC, Star Wars and the like. Not to say I won't be reviewing those movies, but I think most people will go watch those movies regardless of what I think of them. I want to help encourage people to go out of their way to watch something original (not part of a franchise) or with a lower budget and see the great new stories filmmakers have to offer. Anyway, enough of that- here's I, Tonya.

I, Tonya is a film that no doubt will have some presence in the Oscars (if not, then The Academy really need a change of members). Margot Robbie's performance and portrayal of Tonya Harding was one of the best performances of last year, and she definitely deserves to at least be nominated for this performance. Also add Allison Janney to best supporting actress for her portrayal of Harding's crazy mother. Allison Janney stole every scene she was in and was a joy to watch, but not taking away from Robbie's performance or Sebastian Stan (who played Jeff Gillooly, Tonya's husband) as they carried most of the movie.

The story is told in a semi-documentary style and documents Tonya Harding's life from her early days of ice skating to her big controversial Olympic moment. It covers her relationships with her husband and mother, as well as her relationship with ice skating throughout her life. The movie does a good job at making situations that probably shouldn't be funny, actually be pretty funny thanks to the great writing and acting. There was never a moment during the movie where I felt even close to bored or impatient for the next big thing to happen, it was great from start to finish without any small bumps in-between.

The movie does a good job of not painting anyone as a clear villain or hero (well, except one or two minor characters), but let's you decide how to feel about everyone by showing you their actions and how they deal with their struggles and make choices based on those struggles. I wasn't too familiar with the real life story of Tonya Harding, since it was before my time, but I knew the important details about it. The movie does a good job at showing the whole ordeal through different eyes and it feels a lot more personal  and human this way.

We are only halfway through the first month of the year, but I have to say this movie could easily be one of my top tens of the year for 2018. Of course there's still hundreds of movies to see and honestly, I hope that there are at least 10 more movies better than this one for my sake. That still wouldn't change the fact that I really loved this movie a lot, and I will be buying it when it comes out. It's a great way to start the year off in movies and I hope to be just as impressed with all the other movies this year i'm going to watch, but let's face it... that's just not going to happen.

Overall Grade: A