Written and directed by J Blakeson
Starring Rosamund Pike, Eliza Gonzalez, Peter Dinklage
Rated R for language throughout and some violence
Runtime: 1 hour 58 minutes
Streaming on Netflix Feb. 19

by Emily Maesar, Staff Writer

“I’m just someone who cares.”

What’s more American than a healthcare scam that gets wrapped up in some mob shit? Nearly nothing! J Blakeson’s I Care a Lot is an exploration of just that, and it’s one of the most fun rides I’ve been on this year.

Marla Grayson (Rosamund Pike) is a legal guardian. She’s built a very successful business on being a court appointed guardian to older people who either have no family, or whose family is deemed incapable of taking care of them. Once she’s in control, she bleeds them dry by putting them into senior living facilities and selling off all their assets. She’s able to do it all under the guise of caring. Only the victims’ families, if they have any, seem to see what she’s doing, but they’re powerless to stop her.

When she comes across Jennifer Peterson (Dianne Wiest), Marla can’t help but see a golden goose. No family, obscenely well-off, and seemingly on the cusp of dementia (at least enough to get a doctor to exaggerate and allow an emergency court appointment)–Jennifer is the perfect mark. But everything is not as it seems when Roman (Peter Dinklage) gets involved and things take a dark and violent turn for Marla and her girlfriend, Fran (Eliza Gonzalez).

What results is an entertaining satire of white, capitalist-centered feminism. It’s very, “Let’s do so much ‘girl power’ for the sake of entrepreneurship, that we completely destroy people’s lives!” And it’s the sort of film I’ve been wanting to see for a while. Nobody’s a good guy, but everybody’s fun. Which is all I want in my dark comedies, honestly. Blakeson really nails the tone and style in a fresh and interesting way. It’s a two-hour film, but it never feels boring or bloated. It’s streamlined to perfection with enough twists and turns that you’ll forget he did some setups that end up digging the knife of the story even deeper by the end. It’s got some really masterful storytelling that makes me pumped about what his career after this film will look like.

Also, I’m sure I’m not the first person to say something to the tune of “God, Rosamund Pike’s career is wild,” but I think this film is a nice cherry on top of an already deeply cool filmography. It’s been a real pleasure to watch Pike go from the very soft and romantic eldest Bennet sister, to an absolutely unrelenting sociopath as Amazing Amy. But I Care A Lot takes it up a notch in the best ways.

Like, I love David Fincher’s Gone Girl as much as the next person who has a movie theater poster of the film in their bedroom, but I Care a Lot somehow has even more fun playing with Pike’s abilities. Part of that, I’m sure, is that she’s actually the lead of I Care a Lot, and is basically on screen for most of the two hours. She’s equal parts glamorous (god her outfits are to die for) and monstrous (some scenes of her simply doing her thing as a legal guardian make me so angry). Pike has the right mix of everything a likeably, unlikable protagonist needs. She’s not the hero, there are no heroes in this story, but she’s not wrong to say she’s “a fucking lioness.”

I’m excited for people to watch this film and become just as engrossed in the story and storytelling as I was, and I’m hoping we get at least some semblance of a conversation started about legal guardianship. It’s a reality that I don’t think a lot of people know is even happening, and I Care a Lot is a good entry point for doing a bit of “oh, that’s real” research about the whole thing, no matter what side of the conversation you fall on.

I Care a Lot is a damn good ride. It’s fun, funny, and heartbreaking in all the right ways. J Blakeson’s got a handle on shifting tones, writing complex characters, and god I haven’t even mentioned that Chris Messina’s in this playing Roman’s lawyer - and I love that man. It’s because Rosamund Pike’s performance is a goddamn knock out. She’s firing on all cylinders, balancing this film on a knife’s edge and succeeding.