I,Tonya review

With I,Tonya we are promised a story about a figure skater and her rise to the top of her sport and while we do get that we also get moments of it all crashing down upon her and her dysfunctional family. I,Tonya stars Margot Robbie as Tonya Harding a competitive Ice Skater who rises amongst the ranks at the US Figure Skating championships but her future in the sport in thrown into doubt when her ex-husband intervenes. Margot Robbie steals the show as the before mentioned Tonya Harding. While not all that likable throughout you do find yourself getting a connection with her character as life throws it's many ups and downs at her. Sebastian Stan puts in a stellar performance as her husband / ex-husband. I never even knew he could be this good having seen him mainly in the Marvel Cinematic Universe he didn't impress me at all but in this he is just brilliant in his role. Allison Janney on the other hand while brilliant and deserving of her academy award for actress in a supporting role is not used enough in my opinion. Don't get me wrong she is on screen for a lot of the first half of the movie but her scenes are way too short although she does leave an impact. She's abusive towards her daughter, she pushes and pushes her to the limit and it shows towards the end of the movie the impact that she made on her daughter and the relationship they share seems broken beyond repair.

I won't spoil the ending obviously but if you've ever heard of Tonya Harding I'm sure you know the outcome and what eventually happened with her life. It really is quite heartbreaking and shows that when it comes to being a public figure all it takes is one step wrong and bang your career is over. No remorse and no sympathy from people who maybe one day loved and idolized you. The third act is real life at it's fullest and most awful form.

I,Tonya is a real life story but it can also be a dark comedy that while not hilarious it does raise a few laughs as the pacing is really good and you never feel like it's dragging on throughout it's 120 minute running time. The only gripe I have to be honest is the skating scenes themselves. While great and really energetic Margot Robbie's face which was digitally added to another body just looks wrong at some points especially in the beginning. It's just a distraction more than anything else as you keep thinking to yourself that just looks completely off. But other than that this is a fine movie with some really really strong performances that is definitely worth checking out.

★★★★