I, TONYA

I, TONYA - A

This was a unique film. Sort of a biographical, docudrama if you will It reminded me of PREFONTAINE in the way it was shot, and I thought the breaking of the fourth wall to emphasize the truths within the drama was groundbreaking. Audiences are often left wondering what was real and what was added for dramatic effect. The film had no problem coming out and telling you.

A lot of critics have panned the film as an effort to paint Tonya the victim and garner sympathy for her side. I didn't take it that way at all. I took it as a film that simply wanted Tonya's side to be heard. I didn't feel it was pulling me in either direction. I felt that it presented Tonya as she was. This is Tonya. This is who she is. You make up your mind if she's a victim of circumstances or if she's a monster.

And speaking of monsters, the real monster of the film, the true antagonist, was the sport of figure skating in itself. While my hat is off to all of the athletes who pour their heart and spirit into what they do, the governing body is a joke. What a bunch of stuck up pompous pricks. To see how shallow, superficial and prude the sport is, is quite disheartening. That's the true tragedy of this story. To see the sort of home life Tonya went through and the physical/psychological abuse her mother put her through, only to be denied because she didn't fit the wholesome image they were looking for. It angers me as much as it saddens me. The Figure Skating committee fought so hard and for so long for an excuse to kick Tonya out, that it got down on its hands and knees and thanked the Figure Skating God above, the second it had something it could use to do just that. It resonates with me as in much different ways, for much different reasons my experience in amateur wrestling media has been similar. It should be about the skating. Not the way you dress or the type of home life you have. As it should be about the knowledge of wrestling and how good of a writer you are, not how you spend your Sunday mornings or what you do or don't do before meals.

Anyway...more about the movie.

I loved how the O.J. Simpson trial was playing on the TV while everyone involved in the case was getting their sentencing. Talk about a juxtaposition of events. Brilliant placement.

The acting was pretty good. Margot Robbie was very good, as was Allison Janney.

Well written, well directed, well acted. I can't really say anything bad about the film.

THE MEG

THE MEG: B-

It was a fun, action packed suspenseful ride. Nothing about the film is going to be up for an academy award, but it was far from the Razzie fest that I feared it might be going in.

I was pleasantly surprised to view a film with an inherent nature to be nothing but senseless action actually have a story. Not only did it have a story but it had a compelling story. A story with interesting characters.

Did it have its flaws? Of course it did. I can only imagine how painful it would be for a scientist or a biologist to sit through the enormity of inaccuracies displayed in this film. I'm not a scientist nor am I a biologist. I don't demand absolute accuracy to actualities when I watch a film. I only demand that a film be within the rules that it sets upon itself, and I feel that THE MEG did.

The subplots were as distracting as they were unnecessary but the main plot itself was rather strong. There was little to no need for a romance between Jonas and Suyin, and the tension between Jonas and Celeste was completely unneeded.

It wasn't that the film had difficulty focusing, it was that the film had difficulty in what to focus on. The sense of urgency at times was greater than what it should have been and at others not near as great as it should have been.

Nevertheless it was a fun film and Jason Statham did a great job of playing the no nonsense badass that he is uncanny for portraying.

As I watched the film it made me think of how I would have structured the story had I been in charge of writing the screenplay. I think I would have had a tie-in to an aquarium that housed Orcas. How there was an animal loving oceanographer who wanted the animals freed. Had it to where upon an agreement, the Orcas would be trained to attack and kill Megs, and if they succeeded they would be permanently released into the wild. And yes, it may take ten or fifteen of them to do it, but a large group of Orcas, as quick, strong and intelligent as they are could kill a Megalodon.