"I Care A Lot" Film Review

"I Care A Lot" Film Review

Rating: 4/5

By: Nathaniel Simpson

    There are no protagonists throughout J Blakeson's new film "I Care A Lot". 

    This film follows Rosamund Pike's character Marla Grayson, who is a legal guardian for the elderly. However she is very corrupt, and takes advantage of the older people for her own monetary gain. This blows up in her face when she tries to corrupt an older woman by the name of Jennifer Peterson (Dianne West), who turns out to be the mother of a mob boss named Roman Lunyov (Peter Dinklage).

    Even though she's a horrible person and an antagonist against the elderly, we root for Marla when Roman attempts to kill her and she manages to escape. We want her to get revenge on Roman for what he did to her and her lover Fran (Eiza González). 

    My favorite scene in this film happens about half way through, when Roman sends his goons to kidnap Marla and bring her back to him. They tie her up, and place a plastic bag over her head to provoke intimidation and fear in her. Even if Marla is fearful of her life during this scene, Pike does her job so well we can't see the fear in Marla. 

    When Roman threatens to destroy everything Marla has and to kill her mom, Marla responds nonchalantly by saying "Go ahead. I don't give a shit about that f**king sociopath". I love this response, as it is different from all of the other villain intimidation scenes. If this was a different film, the villain would threaten to kill someone very close to the person he or she is intimidating, and the victim would beg the villain not to. However, in this film, Marla simply doesn't care (which is ironic since the film is titled "I Care A Lot"). She's extremely selfish and doesn't really care about other people, as evident in this scene. 

    This is probably one of Pike's best roles since starring as Amy Dunne in David Fincher's "Gone Girl" (2014). Pike is excellent in this film, and seems to really embody the character of Marla. You both hate and like Marla at the same time, and it's thanks to Pike's wonderful performance. She won the Golden Globe for her role, which she rightfully deserved.

    Dinklage is also excellent in this film, playing his character as someone everyone is fearful of. Even though Dinklage's stature is less than all of his cast members, he seems larger than life throughout this film, and the most intimidating as well. 

    The ending feels very rushed and somewhat anti-climatic compared to the build up that the film has created. But it redeems itself with an ending that leaves the viewer both shocked and conflicted at the same time. It begs the question of is money really worth damaging people's lives and creating enemies everywhere you go? Apparently to Marla, it is that important, and we see where that got her.