I Care A Lot (2021)
Rosamund Pike is sensational in a movie that goes from stylish and original to ludicrous.
What is I Care A Lot about?
A con artist preys on the elderly by masquerading as their legal guardian. But her latest target turns out to be more trouble than she’s worth - especially as her family has ties to the Mafia.
Where can you watch I Care A Lot?
It’s available on Netflix (including Netflix SA).
Trigger Warnings:
Violence. Beating. Non explicit torture scene. Intense, rather than graphic. Bad language.
Note:
This review contains spoilers.
My review of I Care A Lot
I was loving this movie until the halfway point. The cinematography is brilliant, the score is exhilarating, the pacing is perfect, and the dialogue is solid. The costume design (and make up and hair styling) are on another level - Rosamund Pike is effortlessly slick and stylish in those suits - and the colour palette is distinct and graphic.
Overall, the art direction and tone of this movie create what can only be described as poisonous eye candy. It’s tantalising and you can’t look away.
Rosamund Pike and Dianne Wiest in I Care A Lot | from www.bnd.com
Of course, Rosamund Pike is the highlight. She possesses the screen. While Marla is a much less interesting character than Amy Dunne, Pike still plays the villain role so spectacularly Her performance is unnerving and real. She’s a force of nature, portraying a wicked, manipulative woman who’s alarmingly good at her “job” and proud of it. Either Pike will win the Golden Globe, or there’s another Oscar nomination in her near future.
I love how original the story is, too. The concept is strong, and for the first 40 minutes (give or take) everything about the movie feels fresh and ambitious and beautifully executed. I was enjoying it. And then, it lost itself.
Rosamund Pike in I Care A Lot | from digitalspy.com
How this movie goes from brilliant to terrible:
1: The characters are flat. Marla is entertaining, but she’s not three dimensional. No one is. None of the characters have backstory, Fran and Marla don’t reveal anything about their relationship history or backstory, and the characters don’t grow or change. It’s incredibly frustrating and has a significantly negative impact on the story. I can’t care about anyone - villain, hero, or anti-heroine - if I don’t know anything about them. And this movie gives us nothing in the way of character development or backstory.
2: Next, what the heck happened halfway through the movie? Dianne Wiest’s character is all but forgotten. The story loses all of its originality and sophistication, and descends into a revenge story for Marla who’s now determined to make Roman pay for attacking her and her girlfriend. Then eventually, she teams up with Roman to launch a billion dollar global corporation that takes advantage of people for a living. What?!
The lack of imagination is astounding. To think the film started so strong, only to trip itself up within an hour - it’s embarrassing to watch. You can literally feel the intelligence and originality whooshing out of the script.
Have you seen I Care A Lot? What did you think of it?