Margot Robbie’s portrayal of Tonya Harding in I, Tonya is stunning
THIS biography of ice skater Tonya Harding could have been pompous and dark, but the tragi-comic path chosen by writer Steven Rogers is a rocket up the backside of biopics.
It is fresh, touching and unforgiving. Tonya Harding rose from a tough, working-class background to reach the top of the US figure skating scene in the early Nineties.
Her goal was a medal at the Winter Olympics – and she looked to be heading there when she was arrested over a brutal attack on her clean-cut rival Nancy Kerrigan. I, Tonya is really well done. Director Craig Gillespie gets the tone right and the washed-out look marries perfectly with the script.
None of this would matter without the acting though and Allison Janney’s Oscar-winning performance as Tonya’s mum is SO all-encompassing it verges on distracting. Never mind stealing every scene she’s in, she also steals the ones that come after because you are still knocked out by her performance.
Margot Robbie in the title role treads the fine line between our sympathy and judgment perfectly. Her last 15 minutes are stunning. We’ve watched her play Harding as a teen, then see her as an adult forced to face herself.
Her charged, changing emotions and expressions are as good as any performance I’ve seen. Top job.
I, Tonya (15) Netflix
★★★★★
WE’VE had Olympus on its backside, London reduced to rubble – now it’s the turn of Mike Banning, Gerard Butler’s bloated and creaking Secret Service agent to succumb to a terminal case of diminishing returns.
Despite looking like he couldn’t pick a pen up off the floor without grunting, Banning is the favourite guardian angel of President Trumbull (Morgan Freeman) and in line for the top job.
A failed (and ludicrous) assassination attempt on the President frames Banning, forcing him to go on the run to prove his innocence and unravel the conspiracy and threat.
Where the first two offerings played its B-Movie daftness to its advantage, this outing gives up any premise of tongue-in-cheek, save for a hilarious 20 minutes featuring Nick Nolte as Banning’s crazed father. If we want to see a president on the brink of collapse, we can just turn on Sky News – more Nick Nolte, less badly made pastiche please.
Angel Has Fallen (15) Amazon Prime
★★☆☆☆
FANCY an experiment? Get a sheet of paper and a pen and write these words: Killer. Alligators. Storm. Trapped. Father. Daughter. Issues. Now spend ten minutes writing the plot of Crawl and I bet you’ll be close.
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Hayley, a competitive swimmer (aha!) hunts for her father, who’s gone missing during a severe hurricane. She finds him lying injured in their
basement but before they can get out, rising floodwaters trap them alongside some hungry alligators. . .
You know what though, it’s not bad. From the poster or the trailer, it’s clear exactly what the deal is – the contract clearly states you will be served a healthy portion of pretty daft script, incomprehensible plot points and some cheesy emotional speeches at the most inopportune moments.
Crawl is daft, naff, full of cheap jump-scares and doesn’t know when to stop piling on the preposterous sequences of events. But it gets to the point quickly and does its job.
Crawl (12) Sky Cinema and Now TV
★★★☆☆
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