An acting driven biopic with little else going for it

Rating: 5/10 (28 December 2017)

I, Tonya is quite a mixed bag. The subject matter is pretty difficult for any writer or director to take on so it isn't surprising that the film falls flat in every area except acting (mostly) because neither the writer or director have shown themselves to be capable of tackling such a difficult subject.
The movie isn't really bad it is just a very standard biopic with less than stellar writing and exceptional acting in most cases.
Margot Robbie deserves to be mentioned as someone who is showing to be a very good leading lady in drama, however I didn't believe the character of Tonya Harding in the film and I thought she was written poorly. Margot's acting was fine considering what was written for her, but the character wasn't written as "white trash-charming" as she should have been.
Allison Janney is marvelous as the harsh and unforgiving mother of Tonya.
Her performance was believable and her character was very well written so I guess you could say that she was the real star of this movie. She was the only character in the movie that fit perfectly.
Sebastian Stan was fine. I didn't hate his character and that's bad. His character wasn't written correctly at all but again, the actor did fine with what he was given.
The movie sometimes does not know what it wants to be, editing wise. It has some pretty weird choices that I was able to follow but really shouldn't have needed to. In the beginning it has an interview style, then it goes away, then comes back again, then goes away and so on. Its just annoying and it should have been written as a standard biopic.
The second half of the movie that focuses on "the incident" is tedious and annoying and not what needs to be seen when talking about Tonya Harding. At no point in the movie except when Tonya said it , did I feel how important skating is for her.
This movie could have been way better and I blame the writer and director for its mediocrity. Margot and Allison did a wonderful job, Allison especially, and I'd consider both of them an awards contender.
5.4/10