I, Tonya

Imagine Rashomon mixed with the TV movie The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom. Granted, I haven't seen that movie, but I'll guess that's the experience with another dark, real-life comedy, I, Tonya. It's off my to-see list.

Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) was a skating prodigy at age four. Her cruel mother, LaVona Golden (Alison Janney), took her out of school to skate. She proves herself as a professional skater, but she fails to impress the stuffy judges. She still makes the Winter Olympics in 1992 and 1994. Her closest competition is Nancy Kerrigan (Caitlin Carver). Tonya's unstable husband, Jeff (Sebastian Stan), decides to threaten Nancy to give Tonya an edge. His accomplice, Shawn (Paul Walter Hauser), takes it a step too far. It doesn't go well for anyone.

Steven Rogers's script frames the story with "wildly contradictory, totally true interviews" with Tonya and others. Tonya and Jeff, in particular, try to paint the other as unstable and abusive. We see their mutual antagonism as their fights play out on screen. You'll laugh at some of the characters' less admirable acts. The actual assault on Nancy Kerrigan is dark, but her assailants' incompetence is funny. Characters break the fourth wall a few times, sometimes to address the last interviewee, including the last line.

The cast does wonders on the ice. Robbie, as Tonya, is equally sympathetic and contemptible. She displays no compassion for Nancy, but is understandably upset when the attack happens. Her unprofessional conduct fails to endear sympathy, but her breakdown after she is banned from the sport does.  Janney as LaVona has a rancid attitude, but she does care about Tonya in her own way. Stan as Jeff believably goes from loving to violent in any scene. Hauser as Shawn starts off a lovable idiot who reveals himself a psychopath ... who's still an idiot. Julianne Nicholson is also memorable as Tonya's longtime coach, Diane Rawlson, one of the few wholly sympathetic characters.

The film's technical achievements also stick the landing. Its Oscar-nominated editor, Tatiana S. Riegel, keeps it going smoothly for 119 minutes. Tonya's skating scenes are outstanding and fit nicely with the music selections. A few subtle visual effects and Nicolas Karakatsanis's long takes add to these scenes' energy. The surprisingly un-Oscar nominated makeup team convincingly age Tonya and the others throughout the years. Costume designer Jennifer Johnson's recreations of Tonya's self-made costumes are perfectly colorful designs.

I, Tonya is one of the darkest sports comedies around. We see its characters as self-serving jerks and as sympathetic characters. It doesn't entirely glorify or deride their selfish behavior. We're left wondering which of them is telling the truth. It'll leave you guessing while you laugh. It was worth waiting for it.