I, Tonya * * * * *

       I think most people will remember the infamous Tonya Harding event. She was a champion ice skater, but just prior to the 1994 Winter Olympics she was accused of organising the crippling of her biggest opponent Nancy Kerrigan, and as such became the most famous - and hated -  woman in America.

A solid performance on thin ice.

           Apparently when writing the screenplay Steven Rogers found everybody he interviewed had a different story to tell, so rather than trying to sort it out, he just put it on the page: the result is an hysterical, contradictory, fascinating portrayal of what might be fact or what might be fiction.
         Some things are known to be true though: her troubled and violent relationship with her husband, her hard, hard mother (superbly played by Allison Janney) and her achievements. She was the first person to perform what was regarded an impossible maneuver - the triple axle.
      Tonya tells us: "America always wants someone to love - and someone to hate.  For someone to hate, they chose me."
        But this is a sympathetic film in some ways: when you hear Tonya's story you can't help but wonder.... "Hang on, has this woman been treated wrongly?" Her only crime seems to be covering up for her dumb-ass husband.   Some of the claims and re-enactments are so confrontational you can't help but think: how are they getting away with this?  Someone is sure to end up in court over this!  But there it is, up on the screen. Maybe the answer is you can't sue someone for telling the truth - or what they claimed to be true.
        As Tonya Harding, Margot Robbie is magnificent. It's an extraordinary performance and if she wins an award she damn well deserves it!
       Don't miss this funny, shocking, thoroughly entertaining film.
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