Having lived through the Harding - Kerrigan incident, I really didn't know what to expect in the movie, especially with the music. I did expect many Billboard Top 100 hits from the late 80's and 90's. Overall, the movie itself was phenomenal. It really did tell maybe a scarily accurate tale of Tonya and the abuses she's had in her life, with a docu-drama style side commentary that matched the way we watched this drama unfold over 20 years ago, but from the other side of the story. The music, sorry to disappoint, no Celine Dione, no Bryan Adams and Rod Stewart, Spin Doctors, or UB40. The film makers used music to describe the characters, the scene, and really set the mood for the action. One of the best uses of music I have seen in a very long time to support story telling.
You have songs like Devil Woman, that would be both about future Tonya, or her present mother. Both, evil tempered and determined.
The soundtrack does not include the risque songs that she often skated too but should be noted. ZZ Top's Sleeping Bag and People are Still Having Sex by Latour, show her attitude of not wanting to be like everyone else. Feels Like the First Time when she lands that first triple axle in competition , Little Girl Bad by Joanie Summers, Heart's Barracuda, and the non-soundtrack song, Norman Greenbaum's Spirit in the Sky round out the passion Tonya really did have for skating. She was a powerhouse but she did not fit the mold.
Shooting Star by Bad Company (ironic band title too) is the first song we hear when Tonya meets Jeff Gillooly. The use of Romeo and Juliet by Dire Straits might be the highlight for me. The lyrics of that song are simply perfect for the Tonya and Jeff relationship:
Juliet, when we made love you used to cry
You said 'I love you like the stars above, I'll love you till I die' There's a place for us you know the movie song
When you gonna realize it was just that the time was wrong, Juliet?
You said 'I love you like the stars above, I'll love you till I die' There's a place for us you know the movie song
When you gonna realize it was just that the time was wrong, Juliet?
And for their divorce, Supertramp's Goodbye Stranger is soundtrack perfection. Again, it's the lyrics.
The other mood setting songs include many of the song's original scores, as well as The Chain by Fleetwood Mac, Gone Daddy Gone by the Violent Femmes, and a wonderful version of Iggy Pop's The Passenger by Siouxsie and the Banshees.
The film was able to mirror the real life story. Margot Robbie and Allison Janney deliver flawless performances. And I want to give acting credit to young actress Mckenna Grace who delivers the heartbreaking and emotional performance when Tonya's father leaves. Overall, perfect movie and perfect soundtrack.
Fair to Love Me - Mark Batson
Devil Woman - Cliff Richard
Shooting Star - Bad Company
Romeo and Juliet - Dire Straits
Free Your Mind - En Vogue
Goodbye Stranger - Supertramp
How Can You Mend a Broken Heart - Chris Nashel
The Chain - Fleetwood Mac
Barracuda - Heart
Gloria - Laura Brannigan
Gone Daddy Gone - Violent Femmes
Dream a Little Dream of Me - Doris Day
Passenger - Siouxsie and the Banshees
Spotify link to the album:
https://open.spotify.com/album/3IfEBJYjoOPp8yPFdENxU2
