I, Tonya (2017)

Craig Gillespie’s partial biopic of American figure skater Tonya Harding had many plaudits on its release and was up for numerous accolades during awards season. No award or nomination was more deserving than Allison Janney for her portrayal of Tonya’s mother LaVona Golden, whose tough love approach to parenting brings a whole new meaning to the term.

The film states that it is based on ‘contradictory’ and ‘totally true’ interviews with Harding and her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan), obviously suggesting that the narrators of the story aren’t entirely reliable. We see this for ourselves throughout the film; Gillespie invokes Michael Winterbottom’s 24 Hour Party People (2002) with characters repeatedly breaking the fourth wall, and the content playing fast and loose with the truth.

I, Tonya is anchored by an excellent performance from Margot Robbie, who trained for four months for the skating sequences, as well as being unaware that the central ‘story’ of the film (i.e. the scandal involving the attack on Harding’s skating rival Nancy Kerrigan) was based on real life events.

Gillespie’s approach to the films’ style works a treat, with the characters frequently contradicting each other, which is often played for laughs despite the seriousness of some of the situations depicted on screen.

I, Tonya is an excellent piece of work, and is even more impressive for the fact that Allison’s Janney’s tragic yet hilarious performance doesn’t engulf the entire film. 8.1/10