Based on the unbelievable, but true events, I, TONYA is a darkly comedic tale of American figure skater, Tonya Harding, and one of the most sensational scandals in sports history. Though Harding was the first American woman to complete a triple axel in competition, her legacy was forever defined by her association with an infamous, ill-conceived, and even more poorly executed attack on fellow Olympic competitor Nancy Kerrigan. Featuring an iconic turn by Margot Robbie as the fiery Harding, a mustachioed Sebastian Stan as her impetuous ex-husband Jeff Gillooly, a tour-de-force performance from Allison Janney as her acid-tongued mother, LaVona Golden, and an original screenplay by Steven Rogers, Craig Gillespie's I, TONYA is an absurd, irreverent, and piercing portrayal of Harding's life and career in all of its unchecked--and checkered--glory.
It's still early in the career of Margot Robbie, but Tonya Harding will go down as her current performance to beat, and much like pulling off a triple axle, it won't be easy to surpass.
Robbie gives a commanding comic performance, playing Tonya as a force of talent, determination, spunk and rotten choices. Janney is caustic gold as the swearing, chain-smoking, horrid LaVona.
Robbie ... captures both Harding's radiance and the vulnerability of her frayed edges. It's a great performance that can make the movie feel better than it actually is.
A stunning performance by Robbie that should gain her a Best Actress nomination. Who could beat Janney's fearless, cruel performance in the Best Supporting category?
Like its plucky anti-heroine, I, Tonya is full of grit and determination, enough to make it where pedigree, decorum and odds are stacked in opposition.
Gillespie's insistence on comedy in place of what's largely missing from the film - perspective, pathos - falsely energizes the story. It's sped up but feels hollow. A spinning compass whose needle is about to snap.
