I, Tonya Review

I, Tonya is a biographical movie directed by Craig Gillespie that tells the story of Tonya Harding: a retired figure skater whose talent and determination helped her compete in international skating, and even in the Olympics.

The picture, starring Margot Robbie, follows Tonya’s life from when, at four years old, she was forced to go skate by her abusive mother, to when she was banned for life from skating.

The style of the movie is definitely very peculiar: it alternates fourth-wall breaking moments, mockumentary-style interviews and dramatisation of the actual events, and I truly enjoyed it. The most beautiful shots, in my opinion, were definitely the ones showing Tonya on ice: the combination of the color palette used, Robbie’s facial expressions and cleverness in skating, the beauty of the costumes and the music definitely made those scenes marvelous.

Even though I am not completely sure if what happened in the movie is faithful to the actual events, I, Tonya is an extremely enjoyable movie, which will definitely make you root for Tonya. In fact, Tonya’s life was not easy: she was abused by both her mother and her ex-husband, and she wasn’t even judged objectively during her ice skating competitions due to her unconventional performances. Moreover, coming from a very poor background, she even had to sew her own dresses for the competitions. Her courage and determination were truly admirable.

Robbie’s performance was absolutely mesmerizing, and this role definitely gave her the chance to finally show us her full potential. Also, her dedication for this role is praiseworthy: in fact, she even learned to skate in order to play Tonya. She unquestionably deserved her Oscar nomination.

But Robbie is not the only one who shines in this movie: Allison Janney — who’s also in Mom and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children — played LaVona Golden fantastically. She was wonderfully convincing as LaVona, and her mockumentary scenes were the best.

In the end, I, Tonya was a dark yet funny movie, and even though it definitely isn’t the definitive biography of Tonya Harding, it was entertaining and interesting, and without doubt worth watching.