With the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics just two months away, the release of Craig Gillespie's film "I, Tonya," a very dark, comedic tale of American figure skater Tonya Harding, which is based on the unbelievable but true events of what became one of the most sensational scandals in sporting history, is a very timely one.
I remember the sordid circumstances that played themselves out like an American prime-time soap opera nearly 24 years ago, and in watching a sneak preview of "I, Tonya," Sunday morning in Washington, DC., it all came crashing back to me.
Although Harding was the first American woman figure skater to complete a triple axel in competition, her athletic fete quickly took a backseat. Instead, her legacy became forever defined by her association with "an infamous, ill-conceived, and even more poorly executed attack" on her fellow Olympic competitor Nancy Kerrigan just weeks before the 1994 Winter Olympics.
With an original screenplay written by Steven Rogers and featuring an early '80s soundtrack that will bring back memories, the film features a sympathetic portrayal of the fiery Harding by Margot Robbie, and also stars Sebastian Stan as Harding's conniving and often-abusive ex-husband Jeff Gillooly, and Allison Janney as Harding's acid-tongued, monstrous and outrageous mother LaVona Golden.
"I, Tonya," is at times absurd, other times irreverent. But, it's definitely worth two hours of your entertainment time this holiday season.
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