While January and February aren't particularly known for giving us good new film content outside of clear Oscar favourites and award season frontrunner, 2021 isn't a normal year. While not a major contender for any goldware this season, Netflix is ensuring out thirst remains parched with a commendable stream of original titles, with J Blakeson's I Care A Lot being the latest to debut on the streaming service.
Charitable on the surface, scheming underneath, Marla Grayson acts as a legal guardian to con vulnerable elders to profit from their assets. But when she targets the wrong woman, Marla finds herself dangerously entangled in the Russian mob. A deliciously dark yet slightly comedic star vehicle for Rosamund Pike, I Care A Lot also features Elza González, Peter Dinklage, Chris Messina and Dianne West.
A deliciously dark and deeply enjoyable genre hybrid, I Care A Lot is a gnarly ride from writer-director J Blakeson, who presents audiences with a thrilling story populated with unlikeable characters and gleefully stands back as they go tooth-to-claw. With a screenplay that has no qualms in showing the ugliest side of its characters, and with a storyline that twists and turns with delight, Blakeson's screenplay is a slick and calculated effort that wrings a great amount of intensity for its audience to appreciate. While the characters really could do with stronger development, providing a sharper insight into their backstories, it ultimately never detracts from the pulpy thrills that I Care A Lot offers in abundance.
Cleanly-directed and carefully-built, I Care A Lot is a melting pot of genres that mostly works. Holding back on the action until the second act is a powerful move that allows for the excitement to land all the more palpably; there's a compulsiveness to the romance that feels dangerous, increasing the emotional stakes tenfold; and the comedy brings a touch of diversion to a somewhat familiar story. The tonal switching isn't so much of an issue as the bloated runtime is, which restricts the film into its second hour, but it remains completely compelling throughout. Alongside Marc Canham's killer score and some wonderful costuming, this is an immensely well-styled film.
But this is primarily a star vehicle, and they've got one hell of a lead here. Playing to the strengths she so wickedly established in 2014 with her career-redefining role as Amy Elliot Dunne in David Fincher's adaptation of Gone Girl, Pike thrives as the ice-cold Marla Grayson: her clean-cut, put-together appearance disguising a deceptive scheme that becomes a joy to watch unfold. Pike thrives with complicated characters, and despite the screenplay never giving her as much to sink her teeth into as she is capable of handling, she certainly makes the most of this villainous role, as magnetic and endlessly thrilling as she could be. Many would be tempted to soften Marla but Pike grabs the opportunity to play such a spiteful individual and runs with it.
I Care A Lot is not to be neglected. While a potentially controversial flick, with an ending that will split opinion down the middle, it's hard to resist such a deliciously dark, genre-hopping, slickly-oiled story that engages at every dramatic turn. Its characters aren't the most strongly-sketched and the film faces some tonal whiplash based on the sheer amount of genre ingredients it is cooking with that pushes the runtime too high, but the strength of the performances - particularly from the ever-reliable Rosamund Pike - and enjoyment factor are more than enough to make this a recommendable watch.