A very interesting approach to an otherwise no go story.

Rating: 8/10 (16 August 2019)

When I first found out about this film, a question instantly popped into my head: How do you make a film about one of the most hated persons in America, and make it work? I mean there must be some artistic choices going into the equation here, just telling it "as it is" would've been impossible. And I was right. "I, Tonya" is a funny, snappy, fourth wall breaking dramatic comedy (or "tragicomedy", if I can say that without getting lectured by the stage fanatics).
They solved the problem of not necessarily telling the truth, by making a variation of a multi-plot; having the actual, character-based, living and breathing people tell their own versions of what happened. They have different stories about the same story, which is the outset for a multi-plot. The only anomaly here is that all stories have the same protagonist - Tonya. Another way of looking at it, a more conventional way for sure, is to regard the "ice skating story" as the central storyline, the a-plot; their "mother-daughter-relationship" (incited by Tonya's father leaving her as a young child) is b-plot and "romantic relationship with stash-guy" is c-plot. Both subplots serves the dramatic purpose of complicating the central story line, making our protagonist's life more difficult.
The film is about her, Tonya Harding's, ice skating career, but her intense desire (overwhelming at some points) to be loved and accepted for who she is drives the telling. This dynamic relationship between action and desire results in troubled personal relationships when she can't skate to her satisfactory standard of perfection. This is a key ingredient in creating any interesting, empathetic and multidimensional character - by giving the protagonist an unconscious desire and letting the audience sense that it is there, contradicting the flitting conscious choices of the protagonist. In this film for example - her unconscious desire is to be loved for who she is and not for what she can do, but her conscious desire contradicts this idea, as she wants to be the best at what she does, so that she can be loved. And we, as the audience, can sense this contradiction in how Tonya always seeks her mother's approval and always goes back to stash-guy, hopelessly seeking that fulfilment, which is to love and be loved as a human being and not as an ice skater.
I believe this approach to making the film was necessary, as everybody already knew about the "incident". And Steven Rogers (screenwriter) did a great job directing the attention and focal points of the story elsewhere. The theme of the film isn't "the protagonist failed in her career, because she physically whacked her rival before a competition". No, it goes much deeper than that. This story is more about what we do to ourselves and others in pursue of our shallow, soul-corrupting desires - fame, money, a celebrity's kind of love - and what consequences we suffer as a result. At least, that's what I took away from the story.
To wrap this up, I just want to give the remarkable Margot Robbie (Tonya Harding) a solid 9/10 for an outstanding performance; a beautifully portrayed protagonist!
Overall, it's a great film! 8/10