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The first trailer was released today for I, Tonya, the dark comedy biopic about Tonya Harding—and it's pretty awesome.
Margot Robbie stars as the native Portlander, Olympic athlete and first woman figure skater to successfully complete a triple axel. The trailer is less than a minute long, but it's richly colored and begins with Robbie as Harding stomping out a cigarette with her figure skate. It also gives a sample of the Australian actress's American accent, starting with a hilariously hokey pronunciation of "America." There's even a glimpse of woman in a crowd of fans holding a "Portland loves Tonya" sign.
The dark comedy is set 20 years after Harding's figure skating career ended when she plead guilty to conspiracy of an attack on Nancy Kerrigan. I, Tonya doesn't just focus on the obsessive and often vindictive media attention that followed Harding for decades, but also depicts her as an underdog trapped in a cycle of abuse (Harding has talked openly about her abusive mother and husband).
The film is directed by Craig Gillespie (The Finest Hours and Lars and The Real Girl) and is Robbie's debut as a producer. When I, Tonya made its festival premiere last month at Toronto International Film Festival, publications like Vanity Fair and Vulture professed Coen Brother comparisons and Oscar contender.
The movie is slated for limited a limited release on December 8. The only confirmed cities are New York and Los Angeles, but it seems likely that at least one of Portland's independent movie theaters will pick up the biopic considering Harding is one of our own.