Villains spar in the wicked, uneven ‘I Care a Lot’
It takes a particular talent to play evil as cool as Rosamund Pike does in 2014’s “Gone Girl” and now the new Netflix film, “I Care a Lot.”
The Amazing Amy in “Gone Girl” might even think twice before doing some of the things Marla Grayson does in “I Care a Lot.” Pike’s Marla is a state-appointed “guardian” to elderly individuals in need of health care, and she uses her position to sell her victims’ assets and skim off the top of expensive and unnecessary care. She’s got doctors and assisted living administrators in her pocket, making it even easier to sell her lies in court.
Marla and her partner Fran (Eiza Gonzalez) seemingly find the perfect target in a wealthy elder named Jennifer (Dianne Wiest). In a scary and exhilarating sequence, Marla and Fran bombard poor Jennifer with lies, falsified doctor’s notes and more, finally sending her to an assisted living facility without phone privileges or a means to defend her mental state.
Unfortunately for Marla, there’s much more to this woman’s accrued wealth.
Enter Peter Dinklage (“Game of Thrones”) going full gangster as Roman Lunyov, a mafia boss with a vested interest in Jennifer’s well-being. Roman begins to squeeze Marla with threats by way of a slimeball attorney (Chris Messina), and then, well, some other unseemly fellas enter the mix.
There’s an undeniable thrill in watching Pike verbally rip apart one adversary after another. Roman, however, proves to be a worthy combatant, or at least until the plot of “I Care a Lot” leaves too much for convenience and inconceivably dumb luck.
The film, written and directed by J Blakeson (the underrated crime caper “The Disappearance of Alice Creed” from 2009), does a convincing job of embellishing the very real issue of elder abuse. Despite it relying on the incompetence of an all-too-trusting judge (Isiah Whitlock Jr.), Marla’s initial hustle is believable enough to be the center of a wicked morality tale.
Despite the Grade-A scenery-chewing, Dinklage’s mobster never finds a natural fit into this story, and the movie relies too much on Roman’s actions being thwarted by the most incompetent thugs this side of Bebop and Rocksteady. Dinklage and Pike do, however, get a couple of delicious confrontations.
“I Care a Lot” has a different angle to explore in the form of Wiest’s Jennifer, a sympathetic character despite a potentially devilish past. Unfortunately, Blakeson’s script sidelines her in the second half, focusing instead on more familiar thriller tropes.
Some might find a movie like “I Care a Lot” difficult to access because it lacks a likeable protagonist. Pike’s performance, however, transcends that conflict; she’s despicable but magnetic in all her witchy ways. The movie trashes the moral high road early enough that it doesn’t really matter if Marla wins or loses in the end.
That frivolity might explain why the Golden Globes nominated Pike for Best Actress in a “comedy,” despite the film itself lacking humorous or satirical bite. Whatever their logic, if you can push aside some of the ridiculous plot, there’s entertainment to be found in watching Pike go for blood.
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Tyler Wilson has been writing about movies for Inland Northwest publications since 2000. He is the co-host of Old Millennials Remember Movies, available everywhere you find podcasts. He can be reached at [email protected].
