Pretty entertaining biopic on Tonya Harding largely led by an awesome performance by Allison Janney as her mother.
This is one of those movies where the performances are stronger than the movie. The movie is good, no question, but it's really more about just some fantastic moments marked by strong performances, including Robbie herself who gets better and better as the movie goes.
I think the main detractor for the movie is the fact that, as correctly stated up front, the screenplay is based on the "wildly conflicting" testimonials by Tonya and Jeff themselves.
Alison Janney is top shelf here and a total blast. The guy that plays Tonya's bodyguard and Jeff's best friend is hilarious in every scene he's in. Just a fat guy who eats non-stop but thinks he's a counter-terrorism specialist. Hilarious.
Robbie's interpretation of Tonya is a little shaky at first (why do they have her playing 15-yr old Harding?!) but it gets better and better, culminating in strong final scenes.
I thought the filmmakers made a very noble choice in the end to show, during the closing credits, actual footage of Tonya Harding skating. A good reminder that she did have an insane amount of talent.
Really liked all the initial scenes with her father too. Very touching. Certainly this is a much better movie than all those "The Nancy Kerrigan Story" made-for-TV movies that came out right after the incident. It's funny how long we had to wait for this movie to come out.
Good movie overall, big performances, probably doesn't need the comedy element which it pushes a little too hard at times.
Heart rating: 4.5 stars (i guarantee you'll sympathize with her)
Brain rating: 4 stars (it's very good but you'll be questioning what's correct due to the source material)