I, Tonya(2017)

Allison Janney won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Tonya Harding’s abusive mother.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2iy5y0YjGM

This “documentary” purportedly tells the “true” story of Tonya Harding’s upbringing, the prejudices she endured because she did not fit the “image” of a figure skater, the assault on her 1994 Olympic rival Nancy Kerrigan, and the subsequent collapse of her skating career.

Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) is raised by her abusive mother, Lavona (Allison Janney) to become a champion figure skater. She finishes fourth in the 1992 Winter Olympics. Her coach Diane Rawlinson (Julianne Nicholson) encourages her to compete in the 1994 Winter Olympics. Her poor scores in meets during 1993 are blamed on her “white trash” image, as opposed to any problems with her performance.

After Tonya receives a death threat not to perform in the 1993 Northwest Pacific Regional Championships, her abusive husband Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan), tells his doofus buddy, Shawn Eckhardt (Paul Walter Hauser) to intimidate Nancy Kerrigan (Caitilin Carver).

Sean hires two morons to attack Nancy. Nancy is hit with a telescopic baton above the right knee. This does not prevent Kerrigan from competing in the 1994 Olympics (she wins the silver – losing the gold to the Ukranian figure skater). It does lead to Jeff, Shawn, and the two goons going to jail, and Tonya being banned from competitive figure skating for life.

The denouement shows Jeff admitting that he destroyed Tonya’s life, Lavona moving to Washington State and completely out of Tonya’s life, and Tonya eking out a living doing various odd jobs. Tonya is married to her third husband, has a seven year-old son and wants to be known as a good mother.