It's high time this subject/character gets a movie and it could have turned out way worse (but way better too)

Rating: 6/10 (29 March 2018)

"I, Tonya" is a new American movie that hit cinemas in Germany just recently. It runs for 2 hours exactly pretty much and was directed by Craig Gillespie, who has made some other known films in the past, and written by Steven Rogers, for whom this film resulted in his first BAFTA nomination and the two worked together for the first time I think. Fittingly with the director's nationality, the title character is played by Margot Robbie and I must say I have never been a huge fan of Robbie so far, but here she really won me over and I am glad she received her first Oscar nomination for this portrayal of ice skater Tonya Harding. Sadly she is not known for her huge talent these days anymore, but really only for the attack on Nancy Kerrigan. As this film is based mostly on interviews with the actual people depicted in here, it cannot be seen revelatory in any way when it comes to understanding what happened exactly back then. But it doesn't need to be in order to be a success. I thought it was very entertaining from start to finish, mostly thanks to Robbie who is in every scene almost. But also a thumbs-up to Sebastian Stan here, who impressed me as he has so much screen time and I never heard of him before. And then there is Allison Janney. Maybe I expected too much from her given the fact that she won an Oscar for her turn here, but well, I think it is much more about the costume, make-up (and the transformation resulting from it) and also the way the character was written and not really about Janney doing something outstanding here, at least not compared to some other far superior stuff she has done in her long and successful career. Of course, don't get me wrong, she isn't bad or anything, but nowhere near the standout I wanted her to be.
I am writing this review from the perspective of somebody who has not really witnessed the actual events back in the 1990s. I was alive back then, but I have no memory of Lillehammer or what happened before that. I think that the one component where the movie delivers the most is maybe its style. The atmosphere resulting from camera work, music and other factors was pretty unique and I read people comparing it to Goodfellas, which i find somewhat accurate. Still, something was missing for real greatness, maybe in terms of how the impact on society was depicted, the film playing a bigger role in the grand scheme of things or so. This is where I felt it came a bit short and smart references about how television stations were the reason Harding even got to participate at the Olympics despite the pending charges were not enough overall. I also did not like the interview parts too much as these somehow broke the flow in terms of chronology, but that's just my subjective opinion. As for Robbie's Harding, she is definitely among the most tragic characters of the movie year 2017/2018. She may act foolishly on many occasions, but her upbringing, her "romantic" involvement, her disapproval from officials are all areas where she suffered and really cannot by blamed from any perspective and these shaped her into what she became. There is one nice example where she really verbally abuses the chubby guy (who comedically thinks he is an expert on terrorism etc.) despite all the ways she was discriminated against before and these are the moments when it is hard to justify her actions because maybe she should know better because of what she went through. Anyway, a masterclass portrayal by Robbie and she really has many moments in which she truly shines and I think she pulls of the stunner-gone-ugly part as good as Theron in Monster, maybe even better. One final note before I close my review: Always nice to see Mckenna Grace, she really has amazing potential in the next decades I think. "I, Tonya" is a good movie and definitely worth seeing, but not among the very best of the year. Still, go check it out.