I Dont Care to Ever See Another Expensive Movie Ever Again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The smoothen, clockwork precision of the operation is at in one case stunning and terrifying.
A doctor selects an elderly patient who looks like a good candidate for guardianship: a person of solid financial means who's not besides quondam and infirm just yet, but perhaps on the brink of dementia. A judge signs a court order asserting that this woman can no longer care for herself and needs someone else to stride in and help. A legal guardian shows upwardly at the woman's business firm with the certificate, maxim she'due south in charge at present and insisting she'll accept good intendance of her property and finances. A driver whisks her abroad to a nursing dwelling where the managing director escorts her to a private room, promising she'll be treated like a queen.
And in one case all the pieces are in place, the guardian is free to bleed this unsuspecting woman of every penny she's got.
The grift is impressive in "I Care a Lot," writer/director J Blakeson's pitch-blackness comedy. You've gotta say that much for information technology. But it'due south also so infuriating that you probably couldn't tummy watching the whole thing were it non for the riveting lead performance from Rosamund Pike. Blakeson, whose previous films include the stylish mystery "The Disappearance of Alice Creed" every bit well every bit the derivative dystopian YA thriller "The fifth Moving ridge," has said he was inspired and enraged by stories he read about predatory guardians taking reward of voiceless victims. Motorway's Marla Grayson is the towering apotheosis of unchecked avarice within a system that's ripe for exploitation.
With her razor-abrupt blonde bob, monochromatic suits, and ever-present vape pen, Marla is a woman driven past common cold, difficult ambition. That much would take been obvious without her opening voiceover, in which she justifies her scam: "Playing fair is a joke invented by rich people to go on the rest of united states of america poor." During a court hearing at the flick's start, she argues in persuasive, clear-eyed manner that she can more accurately assess what's in the best involvement of her clients because she has no pare in the game, dissimilar family members who are fraught with emotional baggage and fiscal expectations. To her, it'southward all transactional. So when she gets the news that 1 of her clients has died, she pulls his headshot off the wall where it hangs among dozens of others, wads it up and throws it in the trash without a drop of emotion.
"I idea he had legs," remarks the doctor (Alicia Witt) who serves up her potential marks, for a cutting. But soon, some other possibility arises: "a cherry," equally they refer to a prime candidate, and the blasé cruelty in Blakeson'due south script is the bespeak. It's meant to make us uncomfortable, and it's effective. Jennifer Peterson (Dianne Wiest) has no kids, husband or living family, and while she's suffering from the beginnings of borderline dementia, she'south active and will likely be effectually for a long time. She'south just a nice, normal one-time lady, totally functional, living an unremarkable life—but to Marla and Fran (Eiza González), her partner in business and romance, she's "similar a gilded f**king goose."
What these predators don't realize is that they've chosen the wrong prey this time, and that by kidnapping, imprisoning, and bilking this seemingly kindly retiree, they've angered some dangerous and violent people. Peter Dinklage is low-key chilling equally a volatile Russian mobster with a proclivity for pastries, and Chris Messina has a tremendous scene as his smooth-talking lawyer, who strides into Marla's office and tries to buy her off earlier resorting to threats. The snappy and increasingly intense substitution, with both actors matching each other barb for barb, is the film'south highlight.
Blakeson'south come up with such an original idea here, and he's presented it in a way that's both slick and bright. Certain, the animated, parasitic nature of these characters is disturbing, but the verve of the storytelling on brandish keeps you hooked, equally does the ever-versatile Freeway. She's captivating in her confidence and her ability to outmaneuver everyone, every time. Marla is a despicable human being, and while you lot won't exactly detect yourself rooting for her to succeed, you'll at to the lowest degree exist curious as to whether she can pull off her most outlandish scheme however. And then once we realize who Jennifer Peterson really is—and who she'southward continued to—Wiest reveals a graphic symbol who'southward hilariously abrupt through the haze of medications she probably doesn't even need.
"Don't become fooled by old people," Marla tells Fran equally they discover the multitudes their latest ward contains. "Fifty-fifty sadistic, immoral assholes become old."
But the detached, bemused tone that sustains the moving-picture show for so long eventually gives way to bodily feelings—to its detriment—every bit this night comedy steadily turns just plain dark. Throughway can do anything, and this is her juiciest function since "Gone Girl," simply "I Care a Lot" becomes less interesting when her character starts assuasive emotions like fright to seep through. Nosotros don't need justification for Marla's heinous acts; simply making her a monster makes a stronger point. And eventually, she becomes superhuman in the face of real physical danger, which we're just supposed to go with—as if her scrappy, hungry nature makes her a survivor in every situation.
But she does pull off a cool trick involving a knocked-out tooth and a jug of milk that may be useful someday, so if you lot larn annihilation at all from watching "I Care a Lot," make sure it'due south this handy (and wholesome) tidbit.
Now playing on Netflix.
Christy Lemire
Christy Lemire is a longtime flick critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. Before that, she was the motion-picture show critic for The Associated Press for well-nigh 15 years and co-hosted the public television receiver series "Ebert Presents At the Movies" opposite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, with Roger Ebert serving equally managing editor. Read her answers to our Film Beloved Questionnaire hither.
Now playing
Film Credits
I Care a Lot (2021)
118 minutes
Latest blog posts
Comments
Source: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/i-care-a-lot-movie-review-2021
0 Response to "I Dont Care to Ever See Another Expensive Movie Ever Again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Post a Comment