Review: I Care A Lot


Marla Grayson (Rosamund Pike) does not want to be poor. So much so that she's created quite the scam for herself as a legal guardian for the elderly. She and her girlfriend Fran Eiza González get court orders to get them under their care, then sell their properties for profits. It's only when they attempt to take control of Jennifer Peterson (Dianne Wiest) that they realize she might be a bit more than they bargained for.

Marla is so deliciously vile. I never expected to be so invested into someone committing elder abuse. Especially in a film from a director whose had a few duds prior to this. But Rosamund Pike can do anything, and I especially loved her and Peter Dinklage together in this film.

I've found a lot of talk about this film online to be unfair and annoying. Not to mention laced with misogyny. An alarming amount of people seem to take issue with the fact that Martha is a woman doing these things, while not batting an eye lash over the many times men have been in movies like these. It's not a perfect movie, but it's one of the better ones Netflix has put out. Don't let the in no way suspicious one star reviews everywhere put you off.

I will admit, the ending is lifted from plenty of other crime movies, but the performances and the quick pacing make this an easy watch. It's darkly funny without ever glorifying what the characters are doing. 

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B

Memorable quote: "You're right. I can be bought." - Marla Grayson (Rosamund Pike)

Comments

  1. It's funny how many men hate Marla and the film because of the things she does but have no issue whatsoever praising a film and liking a male character even when he does worth things than Marla here. And then when you call them out for their misogyny, they attack you.

    Anyway, I loved the film and Rosamund, and I'm glad you enjoyed it too.

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    1. That's exactly what's going on here. There are valid reasons to dislike this movie but being mad because Marla is a woman is not one of them.

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  2. Lots of talk online indeed. I was kinda meh on this, but I loved Dianne Wiest a lot

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  3. I've seen some of those criticisms and just turned them off. Anyone who looks at the film from that POV doesn't have much to say that I want to hear. Me, I loved the first half and didn't like the final third. Wiest vanishes and Marla goes from razor-sharp manipulator to an undercover secret agent of sorts. As for her character, I didn't root for her any point but I didn't root for Dinklage either (as some seem to have). He's a freaking human trafficker people! Ultimately it's a movie about horrible people doing horrible things and Pike is terrific (at least for the first half plus some). But isn't she always terrific?

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    1. See, that is a valid criticism I can understand, but my god it's hard to drown out some of that noise on the internet sometimes.

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  4. All the misogynistic talk is awful but sadly it's not surprising. In any case, I just reviewed this recently and I loved it too despite the despicable characters. I agree though the film doesn't glorify what they do, and I like that killer ending. The cast is simply amazing!

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  5. I do want to see this. I love Rosamund Pike and I find that idea of "oh, it's OK if a man does it but a woman, oh no" is a bunch of bullshit. If she does it better than them, who am I to complain?

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    1. Just glancing at the reviews on IMDb is almost comical if it wasn't so transparent.

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  6. Deliciously vile might just be the most amazing description I have ever read <3
    I'm totally fine with people not liking this movie but some of the complaints are eye-roll worthy at best.

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  7. I might watch it but the content of Elder Abuse gets to me and this plot for sure because I had a client who's mom was taken by someone just like Pike's character. There really are no major laws protecting the elderly and in my case, my client's mom fell for this schemer because his mom suffers from dementia. The woman infiltrated herself into the woman's life and got her to change all her investments to her plus the home and now he and her other children receive nothing. He was out of town when this went down and did not realize what had happened until he came back and went to see his mom. The next thing, the cops were there because somehow the woman made sure to get a restraining order placed on her own son! Just horrible.

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    1. I think the film does really well with showing how awful everyone is so you never excuse what they are doing. That's an awful story! My husband had a hard time getting into this at first because he sometimes deals with the ended up liking it over all.

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