We’ve been quite bullish on the upcoming Tonya Harding biopic I, Tonya, ever since we first reported on the project more than a year and a half ago. Today, the red band trailer was released, and it suggests we were right to be excited.
Whereas the first teaser a few weeks ago was little more than a montage of imagery set to a monologue about how the truth is bullshit, this new full-length trailer gets that “bullshit” line out in the first few seconds. From there, it’s a propulsive jaunt through Harding’s life, from a childhood in which she endured the cruelty of a manipulative mother (played with fuck-you glee by Allison Janney) on into adulthood, and the attack against her teammate Nancy Kerrigan. There’s a distinct feeling of “Alexander Payne meets the Coen brothers” to the film, with unflattering characters behaving unflatteringly and a black comic tone to the whole endeavor. But anchoring it all is Margot Robbie’s blunt-spoken Harding, the actor already earning critical plaudits for her performance. Helmed by journeyman director Craig Gillespie (The Finest Hours, Million Dollar Arm) and co-starring Sebastian Stan, a.k.a. Bucky Barnes, I, Tonya will triple-axle its way into theaters December 8.
