I, Tonya: Robbie Excells in Darkly Funny Exploration of Fame

“I was loved for a moment,” Tonya Harding explains. “Then I was hated. Then I was a punch line.” She delivers this summary directly into the lens, talking directly to the media, the audience, those enjoying the spectacle of her life. “It was like being abused by you. All of you. You were my attackers.”

Director Chris Gillespie manages an impressive feat in I, Tonya, acknowledging the trial that was Harding’s life, while also appreciating the unavoidable buffoonery that often defined it. Opening his film with the claim that it is “based on irony-free, wildly contradictory, totally true interviews”, Gillespie and screenwriter Steven Rogers explore how Harding became one of the most famous skaters in history, and then the most infamous. The 1994 attack on teammate and champion Nancy Kerrigan, orchestrated by Harding’s ex-husband Jeff Gillooly, transformed her from unconventional success story to cartoon villain.

Gillespie explores the attack, but also delves into the classist, sexist and image-obsessed nature of not just competitive ice-skating, but celebrity. The complex themes are tied together by the outragous characters and remarkable performances. Margot Robbie is incredible as a poor, hardscrabble and flawed woman who is understandably bitter that the game is rigged against her – but reacts in extreme fashion. Janney is terrifying as her mother, LaVona, whose merciless cruelty teaches Tonya that love is violent, and the world unfair.

Despite the heavy subject matter, I, Tonya overflows with an unexpectedly infectious and uproarious energy, manifested in jazzy, kinetic edits and inventive visual and narrative flourishes. Sly and self-aware, characters often address the audience directly. The only visual missteps come from the awkward CGI face-swaps during the impressive skating scenes.

Tonally, however, there are inconsistencies. Gillespie occasionally seems unsure if he’s aiming for humour or horror, presenting Tonya and Jeff’s vicious domestic brawls like a Tom and Jerry chase, or taking delight in LaVona’s acidic insults against her young daughter. It’s the one misstep in an otherwise pitch-perfect trashy treasure.