eleanorlilydavis A raw, powerful film about Tonya Hardings side of her story. Margot Robbie plays the role to perfection, with an amazing 80s soundtrack. A must watch.

pussycat963 I really did not enjoy this at all. It seemed it wanted to be a dramatic biopic but ended up more mockumentary than anything else. The individuals were portrayed as cartoonish versions that just didn't ring true for me. I thought Margot Robbie overacted all the way through and Alison Janney seemed to be going for an over the top caricature. I am baffled by the high scores in the other reviews.

grantss The life story of Tonya Harding, champion ice-skater. From her life as a young child to teenager to adult life everything centred on ice-skating. Then came the Nancy Kerrigan incident...Great movie. Could have easily been a fairly dry paint-by-numbers biopic but writer Steven Rogers and director Craig Gillespie infuse the movie with humour and lightness giving it a great deal of energy and engagement. There's also a character-based side to it, especially in terms of how Harding's mother shapes her personality and views on life. This leads her to accept the abusive, dysfunctional relationship with Jeff Gillooly, her first husband, which brings about her downfall.The light tone does change from a point, and it is a bit disconcerting. As things get more criminal, the lightness is replaced by a seriousness and the movie starts to resemble more the conventional biopic one would have expected. There is still a degree of humour: the bodyguard and the hired thugs take stupidity to another level (and, by the looks of things, this wasn't dramatized - they were really that dumb). However, the come-down from the energy and comedy of the first half does make for an uneasy transition. There was no way round it though - it would have been inappropriate to maintain the level of frivolity considering what happens.Ultimately the transition works out well, as the movie ends very emotionally.Superb performances by Margot Robbie as Tonya Harding and Allison Janney as her mother. Robbie would not have seemed the right person to play an uneducated, working class, incredibly intense, foul-mouthed competitor with hordes of demons but she pulls it off with aplomb. Well deserved her Best Actress Oscar nomination.Allison Janney won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance and the choice is hard to fault. She is fantastic as the aggressive, uncouth mother.

Mike_Devine In the history of American competitive athletics, there are a few moments that stand the test of time and are remembered many years after they happen. One of these moments is profiled in 'I, Tonya' - the 2017 quasi-fictional documentary-style film that follows the tumultuous life of former U.S. figure skater Tonya Harding (portrayed here by Margot Robbie), who had a swift rise to the top of the podium and an even swifter fall from grace thanks to the actions of her former husband.But 'Tonya' is about more than just "the incident" (as it's referred to in the film) - it takes us behind the curtain to see how the self-professed redneck was able to defy the odds, fending off constant verbal and physical abuse from her monster mother, LaVona (played brilliantly by Allison Janney), and her one-time husband, Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan), to make the U.S. Olympic team twice in two years. 'Tonya' is filmed in an unusual way, where the story's characters are interviewed present day, reflecting back on the events, and we then see these events play out. Director Craig Gillespie takes liberties with this approach, doing things like having the actors break the third wall multiple times to dialogue with the audience and editing together reflections to tell a disjointed story.But as serious as this story could be, since it's not a happy one, it's interesting to see how much sarcasm is injected into 'Tonya.' Of course, this was likely something that was cleared with Harding herself, but it still is almost shocking to see some of the things that are depicted onscreen and are then basically shrugged off. Because Gillooly and her mother were such domineering personalities who controlled Harding, the relationships are what drive the entire film more than anything else. Also not lost on us is the stupidity of nearly everyone involved here - from the attack on Nancy Kerrigan to the cover up, it's like a comedy of error after error - and everything is captured in a way that makes it feel almost unreal.'I, Tonya' is not an amazing film in and of itself, but it's a vehicle through which standout acting performances are carried. And for that reason, it should be recognized.