Camryn Ragland ’18

One of the most talked about sports scandals ever is back in the news this year with the release of the movie, “I, Tonya.” The movie follows Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) and her life up until the 1994 Olympics, emphasizing the attack on Nancy Kerrigan (Caitlin Carver) by a hired hitman prior to the 1994 National Championship. The film has been nominated for three Academy Awards this year and has already won one Golden Globe.

Everybody has their own opinions as to how involved Harding actually was in the attack, but the movie portrayed her as the victim, as if she had no part in the conspiracy. The movie shows the gorey details of Harding’s abusive upbringing by her mother (Allison Janney), and her abusive relationship with husband Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan), so by the time the movie hits its climax, the attack on Kerrigan, the viewer has already come to feel badly for Harding. The movie showed a different side of Harding. Rather than being the cold hearted competitor that complained at the Olympics and conspired to take down Kerrigan, it exposes the part of Harding that was struggling with aggressive abuse scenes and insight toward the Harding’s twisted relationship with Gillooley.

The three Oscar nominations for the movie set my expectations high, and those expectations were definitely met. Margot Robbie, nominated for Best Actress in a lead role, played an astounding Harding. She was blunt, funny and portrayed the perfect redneck figure skater that Harding was. She also won the Golden Globe for the role. Allison Janney, nominated for Best Actress in a supporting role, was a mean and vicious crazy skating mom. Finally, the movie was nominated for Best Editing which lived up to the precedent. The creative shots of Harding skating were interesting and kept the viewer engaged in the beauty of the sport.

The movie received a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.7/10 on IMDb.

I would rate it a 7/10.