Netflix Movie Review: I Care A Lot

Number one on Netflix today is the new movie "I Care A Lot". A highly unusual title for a film about a crime that is far too common in this country - criminals preying on older people to steal their money. Marla Grayson played by Rosamund Pike is a swindler who poses as a legal guardian along with her partner Fran played by Eiza González within an elaborate scheme that involves a corrupt nursing home and an incompetent judge who OK's Marla's legal guardianship of many older people. Most of these senior citizens are put in the corrupt nursing home, even though they are capable of taking care of themselves. Their cell phones are taken away and they are given drugs to keep them quiet while their life savings are being stolen from them.

Unfortunately for Marla, one older woman, Jennifer Peterson played by Diane Weist has a son - Roman Lunyov, played by Peter Dinklage who is a gangster in the Russian Mob. This is a satisfying story idea, because all of us love to see horrible people get what they deserve, especially those who have no decency or conscience while they steal millions from the retirement savings of older people. Many of us go to the movies because we love to see justice done, in a highly unjust real world.

One huge flaw I found in this movie is that when you use criminals like the Russian Mob in a screenplay, you have to be realistic. Murdering criminal members of the Russian Mob just kill people immediately by shooting them in the head or some other part of the body that guarantees death. Rather annoyingly, far too often in this film, the victim is not killed immediately which is not realistic, because it allows the person to stage a miraculous comeback. This might be good for an elaborate and longer lasting story twist or a James Bond movie, but this has nothing to do with real life. I thought the ending was very well done and highly ironic with a satisfying conclusion, especially for those who believe in Karma.

The acting in this movie is outstanding, especially with the 3 main characters played by Pike, Gonzalez and Dinklage. The Rotten Tomatoes rating is a very solid 81% and I agree with this rating and recommend this movie.