Review: I Care A Lot

Image courtesy of Netflix.

I'll admit I struggled with "I Care a Lot" - for much of the film's running time, my sole concern was that things would end badly for its various characters. Now, there is no requirement for me that I must like or feel sympathetic toward the lead characters in a movie I watch. Hell, many of my favorite movies are about people who are somewhat awful - consider most gangster movies or Daniel Day Lewis' sinister, but brilliant, turn as Daniel Plainview in "There Will Be Blood." 

However, the characters in "I Care a Lot" are a special breed of heinous - and the stylistic glee with which the film follows their exploits is, at times, a bitter pill to swallow. That being said, this is a very well made movie that is often uncomfortably funny, stylish and tense. It takes a fair amount of talent and craft to make me hate a group of people as much as I did those who populate "I Care a Lot."

The film's opening 30 minutes or so are among the most grueling I can recall in recent years. Rosamund Pike plays Marla Grayson, a state-appointed guardian who uses shady doctors to declare aging wealthy people unable to care for themselves, so that Marla can step in, get appointed by a clueless judge (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) to be their guardian and then take control of their lives, including their finances and assets. She is joined in this venture by her equally unscrupulous girlfriend Fran (Eliza Gonzalez).

But Marla and Fran make a mistake when they get a rich aging woman (Dianne Wiest) with seemingly no family locked away in a senior living home and begin pilfering her house for goods. As it turns out, the woman isn't who she says she is and happens to be connected to some very dangerous people, including a crime boss played ruthlessly by Peter Dinklage.

As the film progresses, it becomes a contest of sorts to see who is more of a shark - Marla's guardian (and her network of corrupt doctors, senior living center directors and judges) or Dinklage's organized crime leader and his cronies. It's a tough call. But despite the bleak and often outright evil nature of the proceedings, there are some laughs to be had, especially during a kidnapping attempt at an old folks' home gone wrong.

Pike has played sinister character before - remember her turn in "Gone Girl"? - but she really outdoes herself here. I guess it attests to her acting ability that I despised her character as much as I did. Wiest gets some major mileage out of a juicy supporting role, and Dinklage's portrayal always borders the line between menace and hilarity (nice added touch on his psychopathic crime boss's obsession with donuts).

So, whether you'll enjoy - if that's the word - "I Care a Lot" depends on your tolerance of being in the presence of truly despicable people. The film is engaging, gorgeously shot, bitterly funny, occasionally frustrating and has a particularly bleak - albeit astute - view of an unchecked system in which greed is able to run wild. It's a pretty decent movie, although you might feel the need to take a shower afterwards.