Best Actress in a Leading Role 2017: Margot Robbie in I, Tonya

Margot Robbie received her first Oscar nomination for her performance as Tonya Harding in I, Tonya. 

I, Tonya is an excellent movie about ice skater Tonya Harding and her connection to the attack on her rival Nancy Kerrigan prior to the 1994 Winter Olympics. Kudos to director Craig Gillespie and writer Steven Rogers for finding just the perfect tone to tell its story: the darkly humorous tone established by the direction and the script allows the movie to be both a highly entertaining comedy but also a nuanced, layered analysis on the events it depicts. Its greatest achievement is how it manages to portray its controversial leading character in such a three-dimensional way: the movie doesn't demonize Tonya nor does it mock her nor does it justify her; instead, it makes her a flawed but realistic, sympathetic figure, making the viewer care about her even when her actions are more than questionable. Tatiana S. Riegel's editing is absolutely outstanding, intertwining so beautifully the actual events and the fictional interviews of the central characters, and it's especially thanks to her if the story flows so beautifully. 

Margot Robbie is an actress I've liked in anything I've seen her in: I thought she made the most out of her potentially one-note role in The Wolf of Wall Street and her quirky, funn, even moving performance in Suicide Squad was the only redeeming quality of that mess. Her role in I, Tonya is by far the most challenging she's ever played: she has to play the character at various stages of her life, and do it convincingly, and most importantly she has to deal with a highly controversial, extremely complex character that is meant to evoke conflicting emotions in the viewer. Even though I liked her previous work, I wasn't sure if she was up to the task: but she proved me wrong completely and gives an absolutely powerhouse performance that completely meets the requirements of the screenplay and even exceeds them. 

Her first scenes when Tonya is a teenager could have been a complete disaster considering Robbie was about ten years older the character she was supposed to portray but she is absolutely convincing nonetheless: even though she might look a little too old for the part, the sheer energy and commitment of her performance makes her utterly captivating right from the beginning. And even if she might not look like a teenager, she effectively portrays the awkwardness of that age, especially in her interactions with her mother (Oscar-nominated Allison Janney) and future husband Jeff Gillooly (a terrific Sebastian Stan). In her scenes with the former, Robbie is very affecting at portraying her character's longing for her mother's approval as well as the frustration and pain that comes from being constantly mistreated and abused. In her scenes with the latter, Robbie endearingly portrays her character's attraction to Jeff - Robbie and Stan share an impeccable chemistry and in their early moments together they make the relationship between the two characters heartfelt and sincere, something key to the movie as it gives a little more insight to the reasons why Tonya found it hard to leave him even when the relationship turned toxic and abusive later on. What's particularly effective in the early scenes is the striking contrast between the moments in which she is skating and the ones in which she isn't: out of the skating rink, she appears as a little uncomfortable and not completely at ease with herself; on the rink, instead, she is bursting with confidence on her own ability and especially joy at doing what she loves. Robbie plays this contrast perfectly showing a very clear grasp on the character's psychology.

After Jeff and Tonya marry, their relationship quickly turns sour and Jeff starts to exhibit an abusive, unpredictable behavior. The domestic abuse storyline is especially tricky as, considering that there isn't too much time devoted to it, it could have felt shallowly handled. Thankfully, Stan and Robbie realize this aspect of the character showing the tragedy of that reality without compromising the movie's somewhat humorous tone. Robbie is especially great at showing how Tonya doesn't even recognize the abuse, having been subject of abusive behavior from her mother since she was a child: Robbie is heartbreaking at showing how Tonya simply doesn't know any better. In the following years, Tonya leaves Jeff a few times though she awlays ends up giving in to his desperate pleas to reconcile with him: Robbie is fantastic at showing the desperation that leads her to run away from him but also the remains of the love she used to feel for him that motives her eventual forgiveness. 

Often deemed as "white trash" by the media, Tonya Harding as a character allowed for the worst kind of overacting, but thankfully Robbie managed to excel in that regard as well. She convincingly portrays a lack of refinement and poise in her behavior and makes her foul-mouthed attitude extremely entertaining without ever turning her into a joke (she especially nails the accent which could have been incredibly over-the-top but Robbie naturally integrates it into the character). She portrays impeccably her character's temperamental, often aggressive nature but she never oversimplifies the character and always shows the reason behind her behavior: for example, her "suck my dick" scene where she openly confronts the jury at a competition is certainly entertaining but also tragic to a certain extent as Robbie conveys so well Tonya's frustration at being constantly looked down at because of her uncouth manners and her self-made clothing. Even in her funniest scenes there's an undercurrent sadness in her performance that makes it so unforgettably haunting. And she's absolutely electrifying in the skating scenes: though of course it's not her we see her skating, her facial acting is simply astounding as she conveys Tonya's passion and determination brilliantly. She's absolutely compelling every step of the way. Even in Tonya's most joyful moments though, Robbie is amazing at showing her vulnerability and the effects of her mistreatment over her whole life. In her later scenes with Janney, Robbie is terrific as she seems to revert to the fragile teenager she used to be and she's deeply moving as she shows Tonya's attempt to finally find a connection of some sorts with her mother - never succeeding.

There's a section of the movie that focuses on what was behind Nancy Kerrigan's attack in which Tonya is a bit sidelined but thanks to sheer strength of Margot Robbie's performance she never feels overshadowed nor her impact feels in any way diminished. As the FBI starts the investigation, Robbie does an absolutely terrific job at portraying Tonya's growing distress and paranoia but there are two moments that I found particularly powerful. The first one is the scene in which a little girl asks for Tonya's autograph: Robbie is fantastic at showing how much this little gesture actually means to Tonya, who for once is being looked up to instead of being looked down at. The second one is the scene in which her mother visits her pretending to be supportive only for Tonya to find out she was only hoping to record a confession regarding her involvement in the attack: Robbie is very moving at showing her joy as she thinks her mother is finally showing some genuine warmth and then her disappointment as she finds out her true intentions. Her greatest moments are towards the end though: the whole scene at the Olympics, from the scene in which she applies make-up and tries to smile while a single tear rolls down her face to her performance on the rink to her breakdown in front of the judges, is emotionally exhausting and that's thanks to Margot Robbie's simply phenomenal work. She's completely unhinged yet never over-the-tops: it's almost too painful to watch her yet she's so compelling and magnetic you can't look away. The scene at the end in which she is banned from every skating association for the rest of her life is perhaps the crowning moment of her performance: as flawed a person Tonya might be, that moment is absolutely devastating and Robbie' delivery of her tearful, hopeless plea is simply incredible. The moment wouldn't have worked if Robbie hadn't done such a fantastic job at showing how skating was basically Tonya's whole life: it's thanks to her layered work in the rest of the movie that this scene feels so shattering.

Throughout the whole movie, there are many scenes in which Tonya breaks the fourth wall commenting on her life decisions and the actual events of the movie are intertwinted with fictional interviews with Tonya in the present days. Breaking the fourth wall can be a tricky thing as it can occasionally come off as slightly annoying but here it does not thanks to Robbie's pitch-perfect, extremely funny delivery of her lines. And she is fantastic in the interview scenes, going from absolutely hilarious ("What kind of freaking person bashes in their friend's knee?") to absolutely devastating as she remembers both her personal successes as well as the many humiliations she endured.

Overall, this is an amazing achievement from Margot Robbie who takes an almost impossibly challenging character and knocks it out of the park. She is consistently compelling and magnetic throughout, giving a performance that is at times explosively funny and at others downright devastating. She never sugarcoates the character nor glosses over her flaws, but she manages to make her a sympathetic, understandable character. It's an outstanding performance and, to quote her final line in the film, "that's the fucking truth". 

5/5