I Care A Lot review: Pike fantastic!

I Care A Lot

Director: J Blakeson

Cast: Rosamund Pike, Peter Dinklage, Eiza Gonzalez, Dianne Wiest

Streaming on: Netflix

We know the icy menace Rosamund Pike created in Gone Gil (2014). There’s something strange, unsettling about Pike’s beauty which lends perfectly for this cunning character that she plays in I Care A Lot. Pike’s Marla Grayson runs a care centre for the elderly and defrauds her wards’ by selling their assets. It’s a prison in the name of Care that she has created along with her partner in crime and lover Fran (Eiza Gonzalez) and a full array of callous doctors and healthcare professionals.

Marla has risen from the rags to the riches and her hunger for more keeps her going. “There are only two kind of people in this world. Predators and prays. Lions and lambs.” She says. Jennifer Peterson (Dianne Wiest, an absolute delight to watch), a wealthy old lady is her latest ward who she conned to get into the caring facility by bribing doctors and fooling an idiot of a judge in court. In a way, Marla is a court approved criminal.

Also read: The Girl On The Train review: Struggles to stay on track

But Peterson is not the usual old lady in an old age home, she brings with her a lot of trouble. And then begins an exhilarating ride of one-upmanship between Marla and Jennifer’s son played by Peter Dinklage. There’s Russian mafia, diamonds, money, power involved. I didn’t feel sympathetic towards any characters for none deserve the sympathy or empathy. There could have been only one ending that would have been justified. Thankfully writer-director J Blakeson gives you that.

Since the protagonist is a female, there’s handful of man versus woman comparisons. It is true that when a woman climbs the ranks (by hook or crook), it hurts the male ego. But isn’t power the main problem? Whoever has power, man or woman, gay or straight, is going to misuse it and exploit the weak. Anyway.

I Care A Lot is thoroughly entertaining with Pike giving an absolute winner of a performance. Can’t imagine anyone playing Marla Grayson with the natural ease and style as Pike. The film has a wonderful supporting cast in Peter Dinklage, Eiza Gonzalez, Dianne Wiest and Chris Messina shining in the two scenes he gets. The treatment is icy cold, dialogue is kickass, and a tight screenplay gives us exhilarating two hours of thrills. Don’t miss it.