ROBBIE OSCAR BUZZ
Gold Coast actor Margot Robbie has been praised by critics in the first reviews of her new movie I, Tonya, which has been dubbed “one of the best movies of the Oscar season”.
MARGOT Robbie is well and truly getting her Oscar skates on.
The first reviews of I, Tonya, a “black comedy” telling the shocking true story of American figure skater Tonya Harding, have seen it dubbed “one of the best movies of the Oscar season”.
Harding’s infamous story is one of the most scandalous in American sport. In 1994 the controversial athlete was banned for life after pleading guilty over her role in the kneecap attack on rival and fellow US Olympics skater Nancy Kerrigan.
Robbie stars in the “frenetic” biopic alongside awardwinning actors Allison Janney and Bobby Cannavale.
Legendary film critic Peter Travers said the 27year-old Gold Coast actress is amazing.
“A never-better Robbie (holds) up a mirror to the tabloid America most of us ignore or dismiss – and makes us see ourselves reflected in it, too. I, Tonya is funny as hell, but the pain is just as real. You’ll laugh till it hurts,” he wrote in Rolling Stone.
The AV Club said Robbie’s transformation into Harding is wonderful.
“From the opening minutes ... it’s clear that Margot Robbie has disappeared into the role of disgraced figure skater and pop culture punching bag Tonya Harding. Robbie’s take on Harding – more of a spiritual embodiment than a mannerism-obsessed impression – never feels like any kind of anti-vanity stunt.”
Forbes summed up the movie, released in Australia in March, as “one of the best movies of the Oscar season”.
Robbie and Harding met on the red carpet of the New York premiere this week.
Robbie said Harding was “incredibly lovely”. “I thought I was going to meet her to placate her (about the portrayal) but really she was more worried about me, how I was doing with the skating, how I was doing with the fame at a young age,” she said.