By: Andrew Wing, Contributing Writer

I Care a Lot is a 2020 dark comedy thriller film written and directed by J (Jonathan) Blakeson. It stars Rosamund Pike in the lead role as a professional con woman, Marla Grayson, who is a court-appointed legal guardian for dozens of elderly wards whose assets she seizes and sells in order to gain profits for herself. Along the way though, she runs into a series of complications when her latest target, Jennifer Peterson (portrayed by Dianne Wiest), actually has connections to a mob.

The Good

This movie has been high on my list ever since I saw the trailer for it in early January of last month and let’s just say - it lived up to the hype in my book. Firstly, I do not expect the film itself to win any major awards at the Globes or the Oscars, but if Rosamund Pike does not receive a best Actress award or at least a nomination, I will be dumbfounded. I don’t know where to start, she is amazing from start to finish in this and is just an absolute delight to watch on the screen. Pike is certainly most well known from her past work in the 2014 thriller film Gone Girl, but her performance in this could arguably top that. Very few actors and actresses can pull off playing a ‘protagonist’ the way Pike can, despite being, to put it bluntly, a pretty terrible person. In closing, I am very curious to see what she stars in next because this was really one of her first movies where she plays the lead character, and I think she absolutely hit it out of the park.

Aside from Pike, the film is just cleverly written and wonderfully cast. The story is unique and captivating. Upon doing research on the director, J Blakeson, I was shocked to see that this is only his third feature film that he has directed, and his first since the 2016 science fiction action film, The 5th Wave, which received generally unfavorable reviews from critics. With that being said, he definitely bounces back with this and I will be very interested to see what else he has in store for us moving forward. On to the cast, they all do so well in their respective roles, from Eiza González as Fran, Marla’s girlfriend/assistant, to Chris Messina as the mafia lawyer, Dean Ericson, but there is one performance that absolutely makes this movie worth a watch and that is none other than Peter Dinklage.

It should go without saying, but if you are unaware of Dinklage, he played Tyrion Lannister in the HBO television series that dominated the past decade, Game of Thrones. I know he is more well known for his dwarfism but if we have learned anything from the films he has been in, it is that he can seriously act and he showed us just that in this as the mafia boss and also the mother of Marla’s latest target, Roman Lunyov. As impossible as it might sound for someone of his size and stature, his character is actually very intimidating in his role in my opinion and he was also responsible for some of my biggest laughs I had while watching, whether he was angrily throwing smoothies at the wall or doing trapeze bar exercises in his office.

Other quick things that I enjoyed about I Care a Lot were the music choices made by Marc Canham, and I also found this movie to be very visually pleasing, whether it was Marla’s ensemble of dresses ranging from every color of the rainbow, or the cinematography of Dedham, Massachusetts, where the scenes were shot and captured by Doug Emmett.

The Bad

Overall, I was very pleased with the movie and you will come to see that in my verdict and rating on it, but there were some aspects that hurt the film in my opinion. First off, if you are looking for a movie about a good person who gets the storybook ending, then this just isn’t the movie for you. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with a dark and sometimes ugly story being different in how they may portray the characters to the audience, but I just found myself a couple times throughout the movie contemplating who I should be rooting for to come out on top at the very end. Should it be the main character Marla Grayson, the evil and wicked con woman who has taken everything from elders? Or should it be the mafia boss who is well, a mafia boss?

Also, as intriguing as the movie was, I felt it was too predictable at some points. I won’t spoil anything, but I just knew where the scene was going at some climactic moments throughout and it just took a little bit of the fun out of it for me, but hey, maybe I just know movies too well. Lastly and once again, I won’t spoil anything, but the ending is something and is another example of where it felt predictable to me. With that being said, I am looking forward to you watching it and sharing your thoughts on the ending because it felt like a gut punch to me.

The Verdict

Two of my favorite genres of movies are dark comedy and thriller, and J Blakeson’s I Care a Lot was a rollercoaster of emotions with some good laughs along the way. It is driven by powerful performances from the dominant actress, Rosamund Pike, and the always amazing Peter Dinklage. The film is provocative and will keep you on your toes for 118 minutes and will also have you uncomfortably asking yourself: “Why am I cheering for this person?”, but it is most definitely worth a watch and I would highly recommend.