I, Tonya Review

Rating: 8/10 (16 January 2018)

I, Tonya is a film directed by Craig Gillespie. I hadn't known about this film until, I heard about the Golden Globe nominations. This film also got some rave reviews, which increased my curiosity for the film. So I finally decided to give it a watch without watching any trailers. And I can say that I wasn't disappointed.
Plot: The life and times of Tonya Harding, a professional ice skater and the 1994 controversy that led to her subsequent downfall.
Story and direction: This film is not your conventional biopic. The makers decided a different way to go about it, which works quite a lot in the film. It employs the fourth wall breaking and mockumentary technique, which fascinated me a lot. The characters also are varied and interesting. We have Tonya who from her childhood itself was hardened to become strong and stand for herself. Then is LaVona, Tonya's mother, who is very hard on her and wants to make her daughter stand on her own and fight for herself. We also have Jeff, Tonya's husband, who has various shades for his character. And finally, Shawn, Jeff's friend, who is that dumb person everyone has in their life. The skating shots also looked very real. It never felt that a stunt double was doing the skating and it was edited so beautifully to make it look like one shot. The selection of music is great too. I felt like dancing in each of the soft rock numbers that played on screen. But this film has some issues that bug me. For instance, towards the last act the film felt quite rushed. And also some characters were just kind of not given that screen space which should have been done.
Performances: Margot Robbie did it again. She never failed to impress. From sad to happy she yet again proves how fine an actress she is. Sebastian Stan was also great. I didn't expect this kind of a performance out of him. Allison Janney just killed it. The way she adapted to LaVona Harding was awesome. She just mesmerized me. Bobby Cannavale was restricted to only the interview parts of the film, but still it's always fun to watch him.
Favorite Scene: The scene where LaVona warns Tonya about Jeff right after Tonya's wedding. We see a mother's worry and a daughter just not caring about what the mother thinks of her choice. This is the kind of scene that takes place between every mother and daughter even now, which touched me a lot.
Verdict: Although there are a few hiccups, I, Tonya doesn't have a single dull moment. I liked the not-so conventional take on a biopic. Do watch this film for some awesome performances and the great soundtrack.
I am going with an 8/10.