“And that’s the *flipping* truth.”

From I, Tonya.

Pushed onto the ice at a very young age, Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) spent her entire childhood practicing and developing her skills.  As the daughter of a poor, dysfunctional, abusive mother (Allison Janney), Tonya was given nothing in life and had to fight for every lesson and competition growing up; this upbringing developed Tonya into a very unpolished, but talented figure skater.  Things start to look up for Tonya: she marries Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan), qualifies for the Olympic Games, and becomes the first American female skater to land the complicated triple axle jump.  Unfortunately, Tonya’s wins quickly turn into losses as she finds herself stuck in an abusive marriage and stuck with mediocre scores at her competitions.  After coming in 4th at the 1992 Olympics, Tonya’s former coach (Julianne Nicholson) offers to help her train for the 1994 Games and Tonya does well in her competitions until a death threat prevents her from competing in a competition.  In an attempt to freak out Tonya’s top rival Nancy Kerrigan (Caitlin Carver), Jeff enlists the help of his friend Shawn (Paul Walter Hauser) in getting two men to mail threatening letters to Kerrigan from out of state.  Their simple plan quickly spirals out of control, throwing Tonya into the center of the world’s attention, and changing her life and career forever.

Robbie seems to have a skill for bringing the best out of rough characters.  She is relatable and genuine in her acting; Robbie’s portrayal of Tonya makes it practically impossible to not feel attachment for the character, even if you don’t particularly like her.  The contradictory narration style is a fun and fresh take on the biographic movie genre.  By making the audience question the validity of the narrators, it rings true of the craziness that is life.  The physical violence/abuse is disturbing and frequent, but is a vital part of the story and Harding’s development; so while the movie is filled with comedic lines and moments, it is often an almost dark humor.  Overall, it is a captivating retelling of a complicated, conflicted story that rocked the world.

| Rated: R | Running Time: 119 minutes |Genre: comedy/biography/sports |

||Family Viewing||Cursing: 10 of 10|Nudity: 6 of 10|Sexuality: 4 of 10|Gore: 4 of 10

|AVAILABLE FOR HOME VIEWING|