I Care A Lot
NETFLIXI Care a Lot tells the story of Marla Grayson (Rosamund Pike), a court-appointed legal guardian whose job is to “care for those who need protection”. Caring is her job, it’s her profession as the character states, but her intentions are completely different as Marla defunds her older clients and traps them in a nursing home managed by a group of people associated to her. This vicious group is composed by doctors, nurses, federal judges and Marla’s lover and sidekick, Fran (Eliza Gonzalez). This seemingly perfect plan to get rich worked well until Marla started to “care” about Jennifer Peterson (Dianne Wiest), an elder lady who has a dark past and dangerous connections that involves her son (Peter Dinklage). Marla’s ambition to fool her latest client will put her and Fran, the only person she really cares for, in deep troubles.
J Blakeson’s new picture has a fairly interesting premise on the surface with his attempt to make a social commentary about neoliberal feminism, but the script has some weaknesses that undermine the potential of the story. In that, the director takes a risky approach with its villain protagonist, a maneuver that unfortunately the movie fails to pull off for different reasons; the tone is all over the place, there are only a few comical moments despite the satirical tone, while the more serious sequences just fail to engage the viewer emotionally. Marla is a despicable person for sure and there’s a forced empathy and sympathy towards her in the movie that just doesn’t feel earned. It’s not implied that a movie shouldn’t have a villain protagonist or a despicable character as the main one, just that the approach of the “girlboss” or badass woman doesn’t really work, and the movie overall isn’t enough compelling to create an interesting portrayal of Marla Grayson.
This kind of role is a tricky one to pull off, as the actor has to create this character with which the audience can fall in love despite how terrible it is. A good script is essential for it but the charismatic presence of the actor plays a huge role as well. In I Care a Lot, these two key elements are missing; Rosamund Pike does a good job overall but she lacks that certain charisma that would have elevated her character. She’s mostly fine in her more campy moments and effectively delivers her speeches despite the flaws aforementioned (the scenes in the courtroom especially). Pike also hits the right emotional bits in the second half as the movie becomes more an “action” one. She shares some good scenes with Eiza Gonzalez, but overall their relationship feels a bit underdeveloped. The latter is not terrible in the role but she could have done more in showing the internal doubts over Marla’s decisions.
The first half of the movie has some good moments, mostly related to Wiest’s Jennifer Pearson. The veteran actress steals each scene she’s in. She’s good at showing the initial state of confusion within her character, but then she’s terrific when Jennifer shows who she really is, and the twist does work because of Wiest (the scene where Jennifer threatens Marla is a great acting moment for both actresses). Unfortunately though, as the movie goes on, Jennifer’s presence slowly fades away and the focus shifts on her son. Peter Dinklage is mostly wasted in a character that is just a simple variation of many others he has already played in the past. Consequently, I Care a Lot becomes less interesting; the unbelievable survival moments – the car scene – and the questionable final twist will probably leave a sour taste at the end of the viewing.
I Care a Lot has a few technical elements worth mentioning, such as the original score from Marc Canham, which mixes minimalistic pieces with more techno-rhythmic ones in order to create a crime-thriller atmosphere. It’s a notable work that deserved a better movie, honestly. The costume design is also memorable, every different outfit adopted by Marla helped in creating this boss-girl persona – the white suit especially adds that extra touch to the final scene.
Overall, despite some good aspects, J Blakeson fails to craft a good movie with either his script or his direction. The movie may have its entertaining moments but, overall, it’s rather shallow when it tries to make a serious statement on its main themes. Rosamund Pike delivers a good performance that will surely captivate the audience, but it doesn’t come closer to the greatness the actress showed in Gone Girl or her underrated turn in Barney’s Version.