Stabbed by her mother and shot by her lover, it is little wonder that Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) is skating on thin ice. But rather than “fit in” and fade away, she opts to “stand out” and shine in becoming a two-time Olympian and the first female American figure skater to successfully perform a triple axel in competition.

A remarkable feat given that the odds are stacked against her from the off. The fifth child of husband number four to a “monster” of a mother in LaVona (Allison Janney) who defends her abusive parenting skills on the grounds that “nice gets you shit”, proud redneck Tonya is penalised by judges and pilloried by the media for not fitting the moulds of “princess” or “wholesome American family”.

What she lacks in money, however, she makes up for in guts. And through practice, determination and skill, becomes one of the most accomplished skaters of her generation and the second most famous person in the world after Bill Clinton. Though the latter tag is fuelled more by “the incident”: a serious injury to a rival skater inflicted at the behest of her abusive husband Jeff (Sebastian Stan) and incompetent bodyguard Shawn (Paul Walter Hauser).

Laced with mock interviews and laconic asides, I, Tonya by director Craig Gillespie and writer Steven Rogers succeeds in being both tragic and comic. Tragic because of the torrent of abuse faced by Tonya (physical, mental and emotional) which she bears with remarkable resilience. Comic because of the oddball characters (most notably Allison Janney as the mother from hell whose monstrous performance has rightfully bagged her an Oscar nomination; think J. K. Simmons in Whiplash).

In the end, we feel a great deal of sympathy for Tonya. Especially when she implicates the media and the American public who are both hungry to fill the void created by the advent of 24/7 news. “I thought being famous was going to be fun,” she says. “I was loved for a minute. Then I was hated. Then I was just a punchline.” Not just a punchline, but a punchbag. An experience from which she concludes: “It was like being abused all over again.” But our sympathy turns to respect when, towards the end of the film, she literally picks herself up from the canvas and does what she does best: fights for her survival.

Director: Craig Gillespie
Writer: Steven Rogers
Stars: Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney
Peter Callaghan
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