Review: I, Tonya (UK Cert 15)

Most people around my age will remember what I, Tonya refers to as 'the incident'- the brutal attack on figure skater Nancy Kerrigan in the run-up to the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. The attack was arranged by the ex-husband of Kerrigan's skating rival Tonya Harding. Now, this unbelievable true-life story has been brought to the big screen in a raucous biopic, directed by Craig Gillespie (Million Dollar Arm, Lars And The Real Girl) and starring Margot Robbie (Suicide Squad, The Wolf Of Wall Street) as Harding. 

Harding is a fascinating figure who ended up being used as a punchline to many 1990s comedians. As far from the wholesome American family you can imagine, Harding's roughscrabble white trash upbringing, foul mouth and uncompromising attitude is anathema to the more genteel folk who hold the power in the figure-skating world. Emotionally and physically abused not only by her mother, but by her husband, Harding rose above it to become the first American woman to complete the technically challenging triple axel jump (an amazing feat, recreated by visual effects and shown lovingly in slow-mo). But her life changed forever when the attack on Kerrigan happened. Unaware that Kerrigan was going to be physically attacked, Harding nevertheless knew that there was going to be an attempt to mess with Kerrigan in order to give Harding an advantage. This is what ultimately does her in. 

Robbie's performance is great. She's really strong, never playing the victim (although Harding undoubtedly is, but probably wouldn't ever see herself as) and makes for an engaging, sympathetic lead. There's a poignant twist towards the end when Harding, about to banned from skating for life, begs the judge to send her to jail instead, and Robbie's vulnerability in that moment is just heartbreaking. 

Sebastian Stan (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Logan Lucky) plays Harding's ex-husband Jeff Gillooly. He could have just been easily played as a trailer-trash caricature, but Stan's performance makes him more sympathetic than perhaps a self-confessed wife-beater should be. He cuts a pathetic figure when he tries to get Harding back and it's his machinations that unwittingly spells the end for Harding's career, a fact that is acknowledged towards the end of the film. 

The star turn of the film, however, comes from the frankly brilliant Allison Janney (The Girl On The Train, Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children) who steals the show as Tonya's foul-mouthed mother LaVona. Never without a cigarette or an obscenity on her lips, LaVona is a darkly comic mix of stage-mother and Svengali, pushing her daughter to be the best at any cost. Janney is a brilliant character actress and it's been great to see her get the recognition she deserves in this brash and out-there role. 

Other good performances come from Julianne Nicholson (Black Mass, August: Osage County) as Harding's skating coach Diane Rawlinson, who helps mentor her to the Lillehammer Winter Olympics and attempts to smooth down some of Harding's rougher edges, whilst Paul Walter Hauser is a scream as Harding's bodyguard Shawn Eckhart, a deeply delusional man who believes he's some sort of security expert (but really isn't). He hires Shane Stant to attack Kerrigan, but Eckhart's braggadocios nature soon gets him into trouble. It's a wickedly funny turn that really wouldn't be out of place in a Coen Brothers film. 

Told in a mix of direct-to-camera interviews, plus acted-out scenes, there's a fair bit of fourth-wall breaking and a couple of deliciously OTT moments- such as Harding firing a rifle at Gillooly as he runs from the house, or Harding wielding a baseball bat and battering Kerrigan herself- which (as we are told) never happened. It's no coincidence that the film begins with a disclaimer that it's based on 'irony free, wildly contradictory, totally true interviews with Tonya Harding and Jeff Gillooly'. There's an interesting discourse on 'the truth' throughout the film, with Harding dismissing it as 'there's no such thing as truth... everyone has their own truth and life just does whatever the f**k it wants.'

The script, by Steven Rogers, is tight, but there are some bits towards the end which feel a bit laboured, especially when Harding claims that being used as a punchline made her feel abused all over again; no doubt that's exactly what Harding felt, but the script comes across as a little over-earnest at that point. 

It's a decently made mockumentary-style biopic with several incredibly strong performances and an anarchic streak that's impossible to dislike.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Tez

Awards Season 2018: Film Independent Spirit Awards Nominations

With today's announcement of the 33rd Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations, Awards Season 2018 is now underway. As they used to say on one of my favourite TV shows as a child (Knightmare), 'the only way is forward; there is no turning back.'

As you will probably know by now, the Film Independent Spirit Awards recognise films made wholly or partly outside the traditional studio system (although there is becoming an increasingly wide overlap between these and the more 'mainstream' awards). 

Below is a selection of nominations:

Best Feature

Call Me By Your Name

The Florida Project

Get Out

Lady Bird

The Rider

Best Director

Sean Baker (The Florida Project)
Jonas Carpignano (A Ciambra)

Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name)

Jordan Peele (Get Out)

Benny Safdie & Josh Safdie (Good Time)

Chloe Zhao (The Rider)

Best Male Lead

Timothee Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name)

Harris Dickinson (Beach Rats)

James Franco (The Disaster Artist)

Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out)

Robert Pattinson (Good Time)

Best Female Lead

Salma Hayek (Beatriz At Dinner)

Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)

Margot Robbie (I, Tonya)

Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird)

Shinobu Terajima (Oh Lucy!)

Regina Williams (Life & Nothing More)

Best Supporting Male

Nnamdi Asomugha (Crown Heights)

Armie Hammer (Call Me By Your Name)

Barry Keoghan (The Killing Of A Sacred Deer)

Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)

Benny Safdie (Good Time)

Best Supporting Female

Holly Hunter (The Big Sick)

Allison Janney (I, Tonya)

Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird)

Lois Smith (Marjorie Prime)

Taliah Webster (Good Time)

A full list of nominees can be found here.

Call Me By Your Name leads the field with six nominations, with Get Out and Good Time each with five. 

The Film Independent Spirit Awards will be handed out at a ceremony hosted by Nick Kroll and John Mulaney on Saturday 3rd March 2018 (one of the last award shows before the Academy Awards). 

The next major announcement for awards season will be on 30th November with the Critics' Choice movie award nominations.

Tez

Review: Suicide Squad (UK Cert 15)

SPOILER WARNING! This review discusses and/or mentions a few important plot points. If you would prefer not to have these spoiled, please stop reading now and come back once you've seen the film.

Set after the events of Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice, Suicide Squad tells the tale of Task Force X- a clandestine group of the worst of the worst- brought together to combat any further metahuman attacks. These include sharpshooting sniper Deadshot (Will Smith), Australian criminal Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), the deformed Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), Latino firestarter El Diablo (Jay Hernandez), ancient witch Enchantress (Cara Delevingne) and the unhinged Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie). However, when a member of their own team turns against them, the squad is forced into action to save Midway City from destruction.

First off, let me say this: I enjoyed Suicide Squad more than I enjoyed Batman V Superman. Suicide Squad has several moments of levity and humour which were sorely lacking from the previous film. The camerawork has improved as well- not so much reliance on kinetic shakycam which is always a plus in my books- and there are a lot of decent performances. That said, there's still a lot that I disliked about the film.

My main gripe? An over-reliance on 'tell, don't show'- a cardinal error in any form of screenwriting- and far too many characters. A lot of characters get stiffed as far as characterisation goes (for instance, the character Slipknot is introduced only to be killed off a few minutes later). We are told about Katana's soul-sucking sword but don't really get to see it in action. We are told about the relationship between Harley and the Joker but only get to see snippets. Aside from one bit at the end where he swims beneath a flooded chamber, Killer Croc has very little to do (and that bit could have been reworked to accommodate a different character). Fewer characters would have meant a bit more time fleshing out the ones we're supposed to care about and empathise with.

The acting is a bit of a mixed bag. There are some superb performances and some pretty wooden ones. Several characters get lumbered with some pretty clunky dialogue, which it's difficult to make sound interesting or natural. The main victim of this is Joel Kinnaman. Rick Flag has a permascowl and major antagonism with Deadshot which tends to revolve around dialogue which goes 'I don't like you', 'Well, I don't like you' and... that's about it. You never once believe in his relationship with Dr. June Moone- Enchantress' alter ego and hands-down the worst archaeologist in the world- which is his primary motivation to be onboard with this crazy scheme (again, I think it doesn't work because it once again falls under 'tell, don't show'.)

Cara Delevingne is frankly miscast as Enchantress; she doesn't have the screen presence or the acting chops to pull off playing the main villain- all she has to do prior to the big showdown is spout some cod philosophy and gyrate on the spot. And whilst we are on the subject of villains, Jared Leto's Joker- who has featured very heavily in pre-release marketing and advertising- is maybe on screen for about 15 minutes, but that's more than enough as his mannered tics started to grate on me a little. Bizarrely, it felt like watching the Joker being played by Johnny Depp in a later Tim Burton movie. Leto's look is quite something- I can see cosplayers having a ball with it- but the substance is not quite there. Leto is reportedly upset with the amount of his material excised from the final cut and has distanced himself from the project somewhat.

But it's not all bad- Will Smith is at his wise-cracking best as Deadshot (it's probably his best performance in years) whilst Jay Hernandez gives a decent turn as a man desperate to keep his powers under control for fear of letting loose and hurting people again. However, my favourite performances come from Margot Robbie- who gets the lion's share of the laughs and is quirky without being annoying- and Viola Davis who is steely and strong as the Squad's boss Amanda Waller, a woman you disobey at your peril.

Stylistically, it's interesting- the introduction to the various members of the squad is done with some funky on-screen visuals. However, it falls foul of Batman V Superman syndrome in shooting the majority of the final scene in poor lighting, making it difficult to see what's going on. There's also some kind of shoddy CG work on the mindless bubble-headed creatures that Enchantress spawns towards the end. The Batman and Flash cameos work without being too intrusive and the mid-credits scene- between Bruce Wayne and Amanda Waller- hints at some interesting things to come. But, just as with Batman V Superman, it does feel as if DCEU are trying too hard to create an ongoing linked cinema franchise. A little more subtlety wouldn't go amiss.

One thing I do want to highlight is the use of music. There's an eclectic soundtrack ranging from 'Sympathy For The Devil' to Eminem's 'Without Me' with pitstops for Black Sabbath's 'Paranoid', The White Stripes' 'Seven Nation Army' and a sadly pared down 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. It's frenetic and constantly chopping and changing but provides an interesting backdrop. But where was 'Ballroom Blitz'?

My gold standard for deciding how much I enjoyed a film is: do I want to see the film again in the cinema and do I want to own it on DVD? Sadly, when it comes to Suicide Squad, the answer is no. There's a lot I enjoyed about it but I don't see me coming back for repeated viewings.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Tez

The Wolf of Wall Street (Cert: 18)

For over a decade there has been a sense of déjà vu with Scorsese’s films: his latest arrives on a fifty storey tidal wave of hype, critics hailing it as easily as good as Taxi Driver or Raging Bull, but this is never the case. Gangs of New York, The Aviator, even The Departed: all solid entries on the director’s peerless CV, but nothing that comes close to his early days. The Wolf of Wall Street feels like the first film in a long time that breathes the same air as the masterpieces that made Scorsese’s name.

The problem with Scorsese’s most recent films is that they don’t feel like Scorsese is behind the camera, that he is going out of his way to win awards. With The Departed it was as if Scorsese was doing his best Tarantino impression rather than make another Scorsese picture. The Wolf of Wall Street is Scorsese back to his playful, rule-breaking self, setting up scenes that you think will go one way, then veer off in the opposite direction. It’s three chaotic hours of virtually scene-for-scene sex, drugs and ticking off every foul-mouthed word in the English language. It’s also one of the strongest scripts that Scorsese has brought to the screen.

Like Henry Hill in GoodFellas, Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) is loathsome and morally bankrupt. In Wolf’s opening scenes we are introduced to the man and his lifestyle (all swiftly cut together by Scorsese’s long-time editor, Thelma Schoonmaker). He is arrogant, egotistical and unrepentant. Screenwriter Terence Winter does not soften the film’s protagonist: this is the man that you are going to spend the next three hours with, like it or not. It is to both Winter and DiCaprio’s credit that we do not walk out within the first ten minutes. We may not like Belfort, but we want to see him rise as well as, inevitably, fall.

Belfort is arguably DiCarprio’s best performance. Scorsese has nurtured DiCaprio since they first worked together on Gangs of New York, and if DiCaprio’s role as Amsterdam Vallon felt safe, that at no point was he really challenged as an actor, then with The Wolf of Wall Street DiCaprio is given a sandpit to play in and do whatever the hell he likes. He gets to do intense, showman-like speeches as Belfort fires up his employees at Stratton Oakmont, deliver razor-sharp, irreverent voiceovers, and gives us a master class in slapstick comedy (it’s only January and Wolf has already given us one of the stand-out set pieces of 2014, when Belfort, drugged up to his eyeballs, attempts to crawl back into his car).

The Wolf of Wall Street is very much a film of two halves; Belfort’s rise and fall. In the first half DiCaprio is fast talking, impassioned, every facial muscle getting used. Belfort may make his money by stealing it from everyone else, a “Twisted Robin Hood who takes from the rich and gives to himself and his merry band of brokers” as Forbes once described him, but you cannot take your eyes off the man while he’s doing it. As with so many rich and powerful men, ego gets the better of Belfort and DiCaprio delivers the flip side of the wild performance he gives early on. As the FBI and FCC cut Belfort down to size, DiCaprio becomes far more restrained. He is hunched up, exhausted, speaking softly and slowly. There are moments where we glimpse the fierce, take no prisoners Belfort, but he is a different man now, having everything he strived to build taken away from him. Few actors are as versatile and even fewer are as convincing. So much of what makes The Wolf of Wall Street such an outstanding film is down to DiCaprio.

Another actor giving everything and then that little bit more is Jonah Hill as Donnie Azoff, Belfort’s protégé and literal partner in crime. Hill has been great to watch ever since he first appeared in Superbad. Here he transforms from a man who envies Belfort, to becoming Belfort’s shadow. Like DiCaprio, not only does Hill get to fire smart one-liners and deliver priceless moments of physical comedy, but he can also, impressively, be both subtle and moving. When Azoff realises that Belfort is working as an informant for the FBI, he is reduced to silence, choking back tears. It is heartbreaking to watch and once again confirms that Hill is far more than a comedy actor.

While The Wolf of Wall Street could be otherwise known as The Leonardo DiCaprio Show, the film has plenty of cameos. Most films struggle to have one memorable supporting role, Wolf has several. Best of the bunch is Matthew McConaughey as Belfort’s mentor Mark Hanna. Everything that McConaughey says or does is brilliantly funny; you wonder how much of his performance is derived from the script and how much did he come up with on the spot. The Artist’s Jean Dujardin appears as a slimy banker, almost permanently wearing a devious smile and, while dressed in sharp suits and giving an air of sophistication, is just as grubby as Belfort. Joanna Lumley makes a surprise appearance as Naomi’s (Margot Robbie) English aunt; a scene involving Belfort flirting with her being both comical and awkward to watch.

The majority of Scorsese’s films are dotted with pitch black humour, yet The Wolf of Wall Street feels like Scorsese’s first real attempt at comedy. Considering the film is three hours long, you will be laughing for much of its running time. Wolf’s 180 minutes are not constant laughter, however, Terence Winter has also written a number of powerful, eye-opening scenes. One of the film’s many set pieces is when Belfort and his nemesis, FBI agent Patrick Denham (Kyle Chandler) meet for the first time. Offering Denham plenty of fine food and wine, as well as sneakily trying to bribe him, you think that Belfort has got away with it. This is merely an act from Denham who makes it all too clear to Belfort that he is after him. For the majority of this scene Belfort has been the one in control, leading Denham on a merry dance, when it has been Denham all along who has been playing the multi-millionaire.

When the FBI start picking away at Belfort, threatening him with court appearances and decades in prison, it is a Wizard of Oz moment as the curtain is pulled back, revealing a repulsive man behind the money and the style, his wife Naomi bearing the brunt of his temper and out of control drug taking. This could have been a cynical way to justify how, for much of the film, Belfort is portrayed as a messiah figure; the villain of the piece finally getting his comeuppance. Everyone watching The Wall of Wall Street is waiting for things to turn sour for Belfort and they do so in spectacular style, but Winter does this in a way that feels satisfying rather than pretentious.

Many critics have questioned the morals of The Wolf of Wall Street, or, as they see it, the lack of them. I’m going to back very slowly away from the debate over Martin Scorsese’s films being explicitly violent or sexist, but what I will point out with The Wolf of Wall Street is that it is based on the life of Jordan Belfort, a man for whom excess was his everyday life. Imagine the outcry from those same critics if Scorsese toned down Belfort’s exploits, there would be plenty of reviews out there all repeating the words “let down”, “a waste”, and “a cynical attempt to win another Best Director award”.

Does Belfort get the punishment he deserves? I don’t think it spoils the film by saying no, not exactly. This is one of the many reasons why critics feel that the film celebrates greed, which is not true at all. At no point does Scorsese judge Belfort; instead he shows us the world we live in, that is on the front page of the tabloids almost every day. People like Belfort have been allowed to exploit their way to wealth and power, which begs the question, just who is the real villain here?

The Wolf of Wall Street is Scorsese back to his very best, throwing all sorts of original and insane ideas at the screen. Under any other director this could have been a painful, even embarrassing three hours, but Scorsese’s confident direction keeps the film utterly focused and at no point does it flag. Updating the gangsters and hustlers of his earlier films to the three-thousand dollar suit wearing stockbrokers, Scorsese gives us a near-perfect study of this world, these apparently respectable people cutting corners and getting rich the easy way.

It may take several years, but The Wolf of Wall Street will be ranked up there with Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and GoodFellas as one of Scorsese’s most celebrated films.

5 out of 5

Matt