I, Tonya - 3 nominations

Actress in a Leading Role, Margot Robbie
Actress in a Supporting Role, Allison Janney
Film Editing, Tatiana S. Riegel

As a woman of a certain age, I absolutely remember the Olympics in which Nancy Kerrigan was beaten by Tonya Harding's bodyguard and EVERYONE thought that Tonya had something to do with it.  Harding was a powerful skater on the ice, the first woman to achieve the triple lutz, who never fit the mold of pretty pretty princess that the skating world so adores.  Her legs were like tree trunks from the incredible amount of practice and work that she put into her skating career.  Having come from the "other side of the tracks," Tonya lacked a finesse off the rink that certainly didn't help her with the judges.  This film gives us insight into Harding's back story, her emotionally abusive mother, her physically abusive husband - all of which comes together in way that gives us at least a little bit more compassion for her.

Memory is an interesting thing.  There are people who are convinced that Tonya herself came after Nancy Kerrigan with a bat.  I had forgotten what a powerhouse skater Harding was, and that she spiced up the rink with flamboyant costumes and her jarring music selections.  She leaned into the tough chick role, and attacked the ice creating a spectacle that the world of skating clearly wasn't ready for.

But here's the thing, I still don't believe her.  What I'm wondering is whether people who weren't around at this time do believe her thanks to this film.  The only person the film makers couldn't track down was the real LaVona Golden, Harding's mother, brilliantly portrayed by Allison Janney who has a good shot at bringing home the Oscar.

There is something about this movie - I didn't expect to like it and I loved it.  Who knows how accurate the storytelling is, in fact, the movie makers reveled in the fact that different characters in the film tell the story through their own lens, and often those narratives do not align.  The film allows for possibility, for us to have to struggle to discover what we think happened, to decide who is presenting the truth, who is presenting alternative facts, and in the end, we suspect that the truth lies somewhere in the in between.  Because the story is told through these different points of view, the editing DOES stand out.  See the film, you'll see what I mean.