I, Tonya: Movie Review

As they say, history is written by the victors which just says that our history has and always will be biased to those who are given the power to shape it. "I, Tonya" is an interesting, in-your-face, and surprisingly emotional look at how one of the most hated individuals in America sees her plight, actions, and the ramifications thereafter.

Since she was four, Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) has found skating as her escape from her dysfunctional life. Soon, she becomes one of the best skaters in the nation. Vying for a spot on the Olympic team, Tonya with her husband (Sebastian Stan) scheme to psychologically attack her main rival Nancy Kerrigan (Caitlin Carver) with a simple death threat. A simple plan unexpectedly turns physically violent. This is the story of how, why and the effects of the attack happened.

"I, Tonya" is interesting not because of its titular character alone but how the mockumentary style focuses on the individuals that shaped Tonya's life and the attack that happened. Each one, Tonya, her mom, and her husband, each present varying accounts of a particular incident or scene. And that makes appreciating this film that much more effective. Audiences are given "facts" or "truths" that still put a lot of doubt on their authenticity. As Tonya says in the film, there is always truth as each one of us see the world differently. What one might see an action as bad that one might see it as the complete opposite. It does not justify her actions but it does make you take pity on her case and on her plight. And that's the biggest surprise for us for the film - on how effective it was in bringing out the emotions from its lead character to the point that we actually felt sympathy for Tonya Harding and her unfortunate circumstances. This is of course brought on by the powerful performance from Margot Robbie and Allison Janney as her mom. It seems that Robbie has been on a roll showing her versatility more and more on each film she stars in. The only gripe we had about "I, Tonya" is that it did drag a bit and that certain side characters were obviously left out like the characters of Bobby Cannavale and Bojana Novakovic. Put simply, "I, Tonya" is entertaining and a romp of a film. Comedy aside, this is a film that has a deeper message and impact than we anticipated for it to have.

Rating: 4 and a half reels





Why you should watch it:
- stellar acting from Margot Robbie and Allison Janney
- an intimate look at how the truth is different from person to person

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the film drags on a bit
- minor characters feel left out