Review: Robbie showcases acting versatility in sad, thrilling, remarkable biopic of Tonya Harding

by Kayla C.

By now, most of us have seen Margot Robbie in the so far highest-grossing movie of the year, Barbie. Students are loving her portrayal of the stylish and nostalgic doll that many of us remember playing with from our childhood. We even recently had a dress-up day at school themed around the film, so let’s just say Barbie is fresh on the minds of AHS students. But have they thought of any of her other films? Robbie has starred in many movies, but one of her more underrated characters is the lead role she played in a biopic called I, Tonya. This movie takes the audience on a journey through the unfortunate story of former Olympic skater Tonya Harding and how her name was forever tarnished. This movie explores the abuse she has faced throughout both her childhood and adulthood and the events that led up to the planned attack on her competitor, Nancy Kerrigan, in which Harding was involved. This movie did an excellent job portraying the real-life events of Tonya Harding, and this compelling movie never once lost my attention.

To begin, the casting in this movie was thoughtfully and beautifully done. All of the characters accurately resemble the real-life people who were involved in the account of Tonya Harding. Sebastian Stan, who played the role of Tonya’s husband, and Allison Janney, who played Tonya’s mother, especially look identical to the people they were cast to portray. Some people argue that Margot Robbie does not look like Tonya Harding and Amy Adams would have been a better fit due to looking more like Tonya. While there are visible differences between the two, I don’t think anyone could have played the role better than Robbie. She gave an incredibly powerful performance that caused the audience to sympathize with Tonya Harding, which has very seldom happened throughout the past two decades, as we now better understand her pain and see her vulnerability.

Another perk in the casting is that we see Robbie show off her versatility in acting as this character is quite different from her usual roles. In movies, we typically see Robbie type-cast to play glamorous roles where everyone either wants her or wants to be her, from the beautiful young wife in Wolf of Wall Street to the aforementioned title character in Barbie. In I, Tonya, we see the opposite as Robbie depicts an antihero who is often called out for being inelegant and not well put together like her competitors. As we see throughout the movie, although Tonya is incredibly skilled in her sport most people frowned upon her and did not give her chances due to her being a part of the lower class. Throughout the movie, Robbie’s performance shows vulnerability, grittiness, and depth to the controversial figure of whom many people do not know the full story of. The audience gets to see inside the world of Tonya Harding and the way she was cruelly treated by both her close ones and the public and how that affected the way in which she thinks and behaves. Allison Janney and Sebastian Stan also shine in this movie for their complex acting. These two are known to be kind humans in real life whereas in this movie we see how both of their characters abuse Tonya. Janney shows off her fierce acting skills as she plays Tonya’s vicious and unapologetic mother whose only goal was to make Tonya a star by any means necessary. Stan, on the other hand, performs as someone who slowly shows their true colors by showcasing his charming ways that progressively turn into his true vile and manipulative personality.

The storytelling in this movie is very unique as we see the plot play out through the eyes of different characters. As the storyline progresses, we hear feedback from Tonya, her mother, and her ex-husband as they all share their perspectives on the events that occur. This style of filming is very interesting in this movie as you aren’t certain who is telling the entire truth. It also brings a sense of satirization and humor to the movie as some of the more dramatic characters, such as Tonya’s ex-husband, blatantly lie to make themselves look good. Although these humorous interviews can at times divert you from the truth if you aren’t fully aware of the situation, how the movie told the story of Tonya Harding’s life events was very thoughtfully played out. I felt as if I was there in real time watching all these events throughout Tonya’s life go down.

“I have not seen or heard of this movie, but it sounds like something I would like to watch,” said Airport High School student Jalen J. “It’s really cool that they tell the story throughout the characters being interviewed and show the different viewpoints of the different characters.”

Another Airport high school student said, “On top of the good acting I think the cinematography in the movie is very beautiful when we see Tonya in the ice rink. The camera perfectly captures her complex skating routines and how natural she made them look.”

A topic critic on Rotten Tomatoes, Mark Kermode, who gave the movie four out of five stars says, “Robbie gives a perfect performance as the disgraced US figure skater Tonya Harding in this ferociously entertaining biopic.” Kermode’s review heavily praises Margot Robbie’s performance of the misunderstood villain that is Tonya Harding. He elaborates that the movie did a good job exploring Tonya’s abusive life and how she was “a tough cookie in a sport full of little princesses.” Kermode also praises the mockumentary-esque style in which the movie was filmed and the satire of having unreliable narrators. At the end of his review, he also commends the soundtrack that kept up with the flow of the movie and the cinematography that showcased the skating routines Tonya performed. Another topic critic on Rotten Tomatoes, Helen O’Hara, also gave this movie four out of five stars. This review heavily focuses on the acting performances given by both Margot Robbie and Allison Janney which embodies the difficult and abusive relationship they had. She tells readers that Robbie accurately portrays Tonya Harding as someone who was underprivileged but also made life harder for herself by consistently engaging in bad choices. For Allison Janney, O’Hara says that she delivered an unforgettable performance as Harding's mother who claimed everything she did was out of love. O’Hara does have a few critics such as the CGI being shaky at times, but she overall very much enjoyed the film.

As for my own opinion, I would give this movie 8 ½ out of 10 stars. This movie is one of my favorites for many different reasons such as the intricate storytelling, the dry satirical humor, and of course the phenomenal acting. Obviously, like any other movie, there are flaws to it which is why I did not give it a 10 out of 10, but I feel that similar to the story of Tonya Harding, the flaws make it more human. I believe that this is a movie that almost anyone could enjoy whether you like ice skating, biopics, or could even relate to some of the tragedies that Tonya Harding faced throughout her life. I would absolutely recommend that you give this movie a watch as it is a captivating rollercoaster of emotions. You can watch this brilliant movie on multiple streaming services such as HBO Max, Hulu, and Prime Video.