“I Care a Lot” Written and Directed by J. Blakeson

I have to admit that I wanted to like “I Care a Lot” a lot more than I actually did. Touted by critics as a fast-moving dark comedy/action thriller, its basic premise is an interesting one. A black-hearted entrepreneur by the name of Marla Grayson (played flawlessly by British actress Rosamund Pike) is a gold-digger of the most despicable sort, preying on rich, socially isolated seniors by taking over their lives through court-ordered guardianship. Working with a network of morally bankrupt partners that includes a doctor, the owner of a high-end assisted living facility, and her girlfriend/business partner Fran (played by Eiza Gonzales), Grayson outwits family court judge Lomax (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) and even concerned family members by presenting false but convincing evidence that her charges are no longer able to care for themselves. Once appointed by the court, Grayson shows up at her “clients’” homes and whisks them away to the assisted living facility owned by co-conspirator Sam Rice (played by quintessential Netflix bad guy Damien Young of “Ozark” and “House of Cards” fame). Once there, they are fed psychotropic drugs and held incommunicado as Grayson and Fran sell their homes and empty their bank accounts and then divvy up the proceeds with their partners in crime. 

A smiling Grayson stands in front of photos of her “clients” in a scene from “I Care a Lot”
Credit: Black Bear Pictures

The operation is as slick as it is nauseating. Within a few minutes of the opening credits, Pike imbues Grayson with the kind of cold-hearted venom that viewers love to hate. With a persona that is more than slightly reminiscent of “House of Cards” villain Clare Underwood (Robin Wright), she struts around her office in tight-fitting designer dresses and stiletto heels, puffing on a vape pen and sneering at photos of her “charges” that she has taped to her wall. When she gets a call from Rice that one of them has died, she exhibits no emotion other than dismay at the fact that she had so little time to plunder his assets, which will now have to be sold and distributed to his heirs. But her spirits lift quickly when she learns that Dr. Amos (Alicia Witt) has found another “mark” — an elderly woman named Jennifer Peterson (Dianne Wiest) who has lots of money, a stately home and no next of kin. 

What Grayson and Fran don’t know is that Ms. Peterson is not who she appears to be, and their con is about to be turned on its head. 

Plot Twists Turn Quickly Implausible

After showing up at Peterson’s home and whisking her off to Rice’s facility (with the help of a police escort), Fran and Marla waste no time going through her belongings and getting her home ready to sell. Rifling through drawers, Marla uncovers a key to a safe deposit box, which she soon discovers contains more than she bargained for — a pouch filled with diamonds hidden in a secret compartment of a book. Marla steals the diamonds and speculates with Fran about where they may have come from and what their presence means … after all, not too many rich little old ladies have millions of dollars in diamonds stashed away. 

Jennifer Peterson is escorted into assisted living by Grayson and Fran in a scene from “I Care a Lot”
Credit: Black Bear Pictures

Meanwhile, a taxi shows up at Peterson’s door as the duo is painting the home and removing the last of Peterson’s things. The driver asks for Mrs. Peterson and is visibly nonplussed when he’s told she no longer lives there. As he scurries away, Fran shouts after him, “Who called you?” knowing that Peterson’s cell phone was confiscated when she arrived at the assisted living facility owned by Rice. The driver ignores her and drives quickly away. When we see him again, he’s explaining Peterson’s disappearance to her son, a Russian mobster named Roman Lunyov (Peter Dinklage). Lunyov pulls a gun and tells the terrified driver to find his mother — or else. 

From there, the plot quickly turns more implausible until it finally crosses the line to absurd. The “taxi driver” and a couple of buddies find out where Mrs. Peterson is being held and try to kidnap her at gunpoint. But the effort is foiled by Fran and a few unarmed orderlies (absurdity number one). Then Dr. Amos turns up dead, seemingly executed with a gunshot wound to the head. Terrified, Fran urges Grayson to fence the diamonds and run away, but Grayson wants to stay and fight. “If we run now we’ll be looking over our shoulder forever,” she says. 

A scene from “I Care a Lot” with Peter Dinklage playing mob boss Roman Lunyov
Credit:Black Bear Pictures

Meanwhile, Lunyov, incensed that his intimidation tactics haven’t led to his mother’s recovery, sends a few of his henchmen to beat up Fran and a few others to kidnap Grayson and bring her to him. After a brief conversation in the woods, he tells Grayson he is going to kill her (incomprehensibly, without learning where his diamonds are or having his mother released). Fortunately for Grayson, the bad guys tasked with the murder bungle the attempt, and Grayson, after being drugged and force-fed alcohol, narrowly escapes from a submerged car. She then makes her way to a nearby convenience store, calls a cab, and makes it home in time to rescue Fran, who’s been left unconscious in the kitchen with the gas turned on. 

I won’t give away anymore of the twists and turns of the plot, but suffice it to say the story doesn’t get any more believable from there. Despite some very good performances by Pike (who won a Best Actress award at the 2021 Golden Globes for her role), Dinklage, and Weist, the film is so blatantly foolish that I had to fast-forward to the end. 

An Opportunity Lost

And that’s truly unfortunate, because the issue of conservatorship abuse is actually very real. I had hoped that “I Care a Lot” would help to open up a conversation about the problem and alert unsuspecting seniors and, more importantly, their families, to the fact that the possibility for exploitation of the system exists. Sadly, though, the movie is so over-the-top that it’s hard to take any of it seriously, even the heartbreaking truth at its core.