I Care A Lot

Even though I Care A Lot finishes with a scene we're all very very familiar with you won't care a jot. As the credits roll you'll be grinning with the knowledge that you've just watched one of the most entertaining films of the year (yes I know it's only February but this year is going to be a barren one film wise), about one of the worst pieces of shit to grace a film screen in an age. This one hits the sweet spot.

Marla Grayson (Rosamund Pike) is a dreadful person. A true predator who preys on the weakest in society. She's a con artist who's grift is convincing judges to let her take over guardianship of elderly people who she places in prison like assisted living facilities while selling off their homes and assets. Working together with her girlfriend Fran (Eiza González) and the doctors and home directors in her pocket her horrible business is building her a nice nest egg but when she's alerted to the presence of a potentially very successful cherry (elderly person with no kids or family) her money making antennae goes off big time. Her mark is Jennifer Patterson (Dianne Wiest) and within moments the bewildered woman is a prisoner with no way out. Marla's latest score is gonna be a hell of an earner for her. But little does she realise that Jennifer does actually have a son. A very dangerous one at that.

5 minutes into I Care A Lot you'll be burning with rage. 10 minutes into it you'll happily watch Marla burn. 15 minutes into it you'll be hooked. Rosamund Pike's Marla has you in her grasp. She's capitalism wrapped in skin and popped into a blonde bob. She's vicious, horrifying, totally devoid of anything resembling a moral. She looks human but she's not. Nothing gets in her way. Nothing phases her. To paraphrase her, she's a lion and everyone else is a lamb. Pike just nails the part. Ice cold and evil yet magnetic and charming. You should hate her but like Tony Soprano, Henry Hill, Walter White and so on, you can't look away from her.  And importantly, like their films and shows, the story never condones what's she doing. But that doesn't mean it can't be amusing.

From the off you'd expect this to be a tough watch but the moment a bullet strikes an oxygen tank which ricochets off a wall into a gangster's chest you'll start grinning and you won't really stop. We get a story that goes to places you'll never expect, full of characters doing exactly the opposite of what they should do and that's dotted with scenes of both black and almost slapstick humour and then just to round it off, a car sequence so suspenseful you'll lose knuckles during it. Then when you think you've being spoiled enough we get asides about how America's obsession with money and men's disdain for successful women. Two themes that bluntly intertwine the story and then lash out at the end. There's loads going on here and all of it is good.

I Care A Lot is most definitely the Rosamund Pike show but the hearty back up she gets from a well seasoned cast all adds to the mix. From Isiah Whitlock Jr's easily fooled judge to Alicia Witt's hippocratic oath shattering MD to Chris Messina's slimy lawyer, there's no weak link. But it's Dianne Wiest and Peter Dinklage as her dangerous son that turn this from an entertaining thriller into an entertainly pulpy thriller. Watch Wiest's stoned cackle when she realises Marla's situation or Dinklage's simmering rage that turns his physical presence immense. His entry into the story should feel like a step into silliness but it gives everything a nice feeling of propulsion. It all just works. It's a thrilling watch.

I Care A Lot is streaming now on Amazon Prime. It's a very enjoyable look at the many ways the American dream has died on it's arse.