The newly released teaser for TIFF darling and Gotham Award nominee “I, Tonya” shows figure skating legend Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) doing what she (first) became famous for: the incredibly difficult triple axel. As she twirls in mid-air, Tonya muses on America’s need to label people as heroes or villains. “The haters always say, ‘Tonya, tell the truth,’” she thinks to herself. Then she decides, “There’s no such thing as truth, I mean it’s bullshit.”
Robbie’s delivery is hilarious, but that credo could also be “I, Tonya’s” thesis statement. Most of us think we know the truth about the real-life Harding and what happened between her and competitor Nancy Kerrigan at the Figure Skating Championships — but Craig Gillespie’s new film makes it clear that we don’t.
The jokes about Harding fail to reference the abuse she withstood from her mother, LaVona Golden, and then-husband, Jeff Gillooly. And it’s also possible, as “I, Tonya” hints, that Harding was not the one responsible for the attack on Kerrigan.
“I, Tonya” was penned by Steven Rogers (“P.S. I Love You”) and co-stars Allison Janney (“Mom”) and Sebastian Stan (“Captain America” franchise) as Tonya’s mother and husband, respectively. Robbie is up for a Gotham Award for her performance.
The dark comedy will open in NY and LA on December 8, followed by a platform rollout continuing into January.
