I Care a Lot 2021

A private user reviewed I Care a Lot (2021)

Netflix Movie Review: I Care A Lot.

The voice of Rosamund Pike feels like "Gone Girl" has moved on to another mark, in another world. But, "I Care A Lot" is not "Gone Girl". Pike plays a devious monstrous embezzler instead of a devious monstrous psychopath. So there's the difference.



Plot
Legal guardian scams might have been in the news a few times. Pike gives us a look into the "dog eat dog" mentality of people who assume control (or care as they put it) over the elderly and infirm, usurping their assets in the process. That's just the film talking, and of course the odd mention of it in the press.

As hard as it may seem, it is best to go into this movie without prior expectations. Once you do, you can expect to be shocked by how Pike's Marla Grayson cavalier attitude towards grifting seniors by legally gaslighting them. The perfect candidate, the Cherry, for the legal guardian scam would be an elder who would be easy to deem unfit to care for oneself and be wealthy as well.

The director Blakeson keeps upping the ante by showing how she is unfazed by one of her marks having a shady background. Things get progressively worse, with Pike playing chicken with a Russian mobster brought to life by Peter Dinklage.
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One wonders whether Blakeson tries to tell us that it takes the monster inside you to overcome one in the real world. I'm referring to the time when Pike walks away from a grizzly car crash and recovers her partner played by Eisa Gonzalez from an assault. It may also just serve the purpose of showing how she is the perfect counterpart to Dinklage's pastry-obsessed mobster.


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Cast and Characters
"I Care A Lot" has a stellar cast of characters, with Peter Dinklage bringing in his Game of Thrones intensity. Chris Messina plays a great morally bankrupt mob-lawyer while negotiating a pre-threat offer with Pike to release Diane Weist. Eisa Gonzalez looks stunning as Pike's lover and literal partner-in-crime. Diane Weist is the super-tough mother of the mobster who stays sharp even under a ton of meds pumped in under Pike's instruction.


Should you watch it? Yes
I won't give away plot twists to be fair to anyone wanting to watch it themselves. But the movie basically goes through how people exploit loopholes in the system to even out the socio-economic odds. It discusses how people are not usually what they seem to be and also raises questions on the justice system and economic equality.

Like most movies made for streaming services, it does not come close to movies meant for the big screen, or at least multi-platform releases. This is worth a watch, but don't expect to be blown away.

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