I Care a Lot (2020) Movie Review
“If you ever threaten, touch, or spit on me again, I will grab your dick and balls and I will rip them clean off.” This quote is spoken by the protagonist of I Care a Lot and I feel it sums up the general angsty energy of the movie perfectly. Marla (Rosamund Pike) is a professional, court-appointed guardian for elderly people who have been deemed unable to take care of themselves by the state. It sounds like it could be the start of a sweet and touching story but we take a swift detour at the beginning of the movie and realize just how shady Marla’s business is. It’s a properly well organized racket as it turns out.
Marla targets elderly people who have little or no family but sizable assets. She then gets a doctor pal, Dr. Amos (Alicia Witt), to declare them in need of guardianship. After being named their guardian, Marla sets the elderly person up in a nursing home. She has contacts there as well who are in on her little scheme. After dumping them in the nursing home Marla gets to work selling all of their possessions, their house, their car, and anything else of value. She’s making a ton of money and she’s good at it.
However, things change with her next “client,” Jennifer Peterson (Dianne Wiest). It turns out that Jennifer has some shady connections of her own with ties to a powerful gangster. Marla and her girlfriend Fran (Eliza González) are taken for a ride as their scheme’s success is challenged by Roman Lunyov (Peter Dinklage). I don’t want to go into too many details because this movie is absolutely bonkers and you should experience it without any prior knowledge whatsoever. I Care a Lot is a zany and wild ride that packs surprises, twists, and plenty of “what the hell” moments.
Rosamund Pike has proven once again that she has a flair for playing cunning and devious women (see Gone Girl for additional evidence). Marla is incredibly smart and extremely ruthless. You see her kicking ass and taking names. She is underhanded and callous and has an ego the size of Texas. Seeing her face off against mobsters provided me with more glee than I’ve had in ages. Marla has one ambition and that’s to be rich. She will do whatever it takes to get that result. She’s a con artist to the highest degree. Some people might have a hard time connecting with the characters because they are so un-relatable. But that is reconciled by a fast paced story that slams on the gas and never lets up. Each scene propels you further into the story and you find yourself wondering how Marla will manage to keep up her ruse.
Marla is despicable but I found myself oddly rooting for her to succeed. It’s hard to make a character like that someone you root for but director J Blakeson somehow pulled it off. I Care a Lot is not the best film I’ve ever seen. It’s not even the best film I’ve seen this year. But it is entertaining. It’s a psychological magic carpet ride through a con that exploits the most vulnerable in society. There are no redeeming qualities in any of the characters. They are all greedy, manipulative, and violent. And yet, I could not look away. If you’re looking for some good to come at the end, don’t bother. The ending is as brutal as the journey to get there. I’ve chewed on the movie for a few days and have come to the conclusion that I’m not sure what the point really was.
Don’t get me wrong I have plenty of theories:
– Being greedy and deceitful is the only way to get ahead.
– It is a microcosm and commentary of American society being obsessed with money.
– There’s no point in trying to be rich because you’ll still die anyways.
– Whoever is the most cunning and violent will win.
Honestly I’m not sure what the movie was trying to say. But it came at me with style and wit and a tempo that made me want to keep watching. Plus brilliant performances from Pike, Dinklage, and González make it hard to turn off the movie. I Care a Lot will leave you wondering about so many things, but one thing is for certain: Pike is the real deal.
Film or Movie: Movie
You’ll like this movie if:
1. You liked Gone Girl
2. You like stories about women who are ruthless
3. You like con artists
