What is the Real Message of ‘I Care a Lot’?
This was originally published on March 18th, 2021.
Contains spoilers for I Care a Lot
J. Blakeson’s third feature film, I Care a Lot, follows the life and crimes of Marla Grayson (Rosamund Pike) — a sociopathic con artist who makes her living ripping off old people. It’s an intriguing focus for a film, but one that makes us ask “what’s the real message here?” Marla charms the oblivious Judge Lomax (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) to appoint her as legal guardian over elderly people, under the guise that they can no longer look after themselves. She does none of the actual caring herself though, preferring to move her “wards” into assisted living facilities and cut off their contact to the outside world so she, and her business partner and girlfriend, Fran (Eiza González), can sell their homes and assets for profit. The scam also includes Dr. Karen Amos (Alicia Witt), who lies about the needs of her patients for a cut, and Sam Rice (Damian Young), the manager of Berkshire Oaks, a nursing home for the elderly.
Amos informs Marla about Jennifer Peterson (Dianne Wiest), whom she calls a “cherry”: a wealthy target with no family. Soon enough, Jennifer becomes victim of their scam and is removed from her home and shuttled off to Berkshire Oaks, all while Marla and Fran seize her assets. Marla finds undocumented diamonds in Jennifer’s safety deposit box and plans to sell them, but things get complicated when she finds out that Jennifer isn’t the helpless old lady she appears to be — she’s the mother of Roman (Peter Dinklage), a Russian mafia boss who will do everything he can to free his mother from her guardianship. Marla, however, does not back down easily.
I Care a Lot highlights the shocking corruption inside the legal guardianship industry — something that the public protest against Britney Spears’ current situation has brought to light over recent years. The film opens with Marla winning a court case against a man who says his mother, who Marla keeps isolated, was unfairly placed under a guardianship. Instead of making a hard-hitting crime drama, Blakeson made a dark comedy that places a villain as protagonist while also satirising feminism and crime tropes. Film critic Abby Monteil writes that the film “alludes to some fascinating ideas about how weaponized female empowerment intersects with corrupt legal systems.” When the man verbally attacks Marla outside of court, Marla weaponises female empowerment against him by using basic feminist language: “Does it sting more because I’m a woman? That you got so soundly beaten in there by someone with a vagina?” This sort of language persists throughout the entire film, which has made some people ask, “ladies, is it girlboss to trap the elderly in facilities and profit from selling their assets?” However, this appears to be the very thing the film is both making fun of and having fun with.
Although this man comes back to avenge his mother at the end of the film, he isn’t a protagonist. I Care a Lot would have been remarkably depressing if Blakeson had learned into his story with more depth, exploring the devastation and exhaustion that this corruption has on its victims and their families. The same could be said had the film kept Jennifer as the helpless, lonely, elderly woman they introduced her to us as — or if it had adapted a serious tone and allowed a mysterious friend or family member to be the protagonist. Blakeson takes a different approach altogether, which has many upsides. The film is pure giddy chaos with plenty of twists and turns that make for tense and enjoyable entertainment. It allows us to watch Marla and Roman, two stubborn and sociopathic villains, go head to head in order to get what they want. The conflict between these two characters is exciting and adds to the humour that keeps us somewhat removed from the emotionally heartbreaking matters that the film looks at.
I Care a Lot doesn’t necessarily let us identify with any character, because we’re not supposed to. Marla doesn’t have a motive besides just wanting to be rich. She makes a throwaway comment about not giving a shit about her mother because she’s a “sociopath,” which is all the backstory we get for why Marla might have turned out like this. She’s wickedly entertaining, and Dinklage’s character is nothing short of the same. Their characters allow us to step into a life we don’t normally get a front row seat to. It’s easy to root for Jennifer’s freedom at first, but she’s also the mother of a mafia boss who is hiding stolen diamonds. Each character is strong and well defined, despite Blakeson choosing to not humanise them by diving into their backstories.
We get to be a fly on the wall, watching these egotistical criminals battle it out as the plot unravels with its unruly tone, action-packed sequences, and entertaining twists that keep you on the edge of your seat. It’s fun to see what the characters, many of whom do not have a moral conscience, do next. The film allows us to change sides and ultimately root for no one, everyone, or someone, depending on what’s currently happening on screen — which makes for a lively and engaging ride. If anyone, Fran is the closest person we can identify with — and she’s still involved in the crimes!
It’s genuinely thrilling to see a morally corrupt female character on screen. Men have been playing this role since forever, which is always celebrated. Blakeson told Moveable Fest that there aren’t a lot of good parts written for women in films, and he wanted to let them have fun for a change: “I was trying to think of a film that has a ruthlessly ambitious female protagonist who wasn’t a femme fatale, because [Marla’s] definitely not a femme fatale. She’s not using her sexuality at all. She’s just using her tenacity, her brain, her calculating nature and her fearlessness to achieve what she wants.” He then goes on to explain that you normally see these qualities from male characters in films like Goodfellas and The Wolf of Wall Street. I Care a Lot lets Pike have fun in the same way, similarly to her role as Amy Dunne in Gone Girl. Speaking to Glamour, Pike said: “Marla is a woman who, interestingly, never deploys sexuality to get what she wants, which I admire. The femme fatale role usually does. Amy does.” People seem very thrown off when women don’t possess qualities that make them nurturing and likable, but people seem to be a little more accepting if they’re using their sexuality, because that’s an expected trope.
There’s an air of bravery to Marla’s character. As Pike said on Instagram: “Lori Guidroz [head of film’s hair department] has the inspired idea of Marla disguising herself with a SHORT wig. Only Marla would have the balls to hide by revealing her face MORE.” Pike also told USA Today that in her head, “Marla never believed she was going to die. I mean, right until the point that she breathes her last, I think she still thinks she’s going to win and she’s going to get out of it. I really do.” Marla has the absolute gall to be that fucking confident. She tells Roman that she doesn’t fear death and is so driven by her desire to be wealthy that she will do anything to get there. It’s common to see villains acting ruthless towards others, but not towards themselves. Marla’s actions are always self-serving, but she has little regard for her own life when faced with life or death situations.
Under the surface, the true message of I Care a Lot is how we blindly put our trust into authoritative figures. The film succeeds because it highlights greed and corruption of power straight from the mindset of the people who do these awful things. This technique allows people to further understand just how easy it is to be cruel, and just how far some people will go. Blakeson also told Moveable Fest: “The idea of a flawed system that can be manipulated for profit and power is extremely relevant right now,” both on a global and personal scale. Lots of people blindly trust the law to work, and people often find it hard to believe that something put in place to protect and support us could ever be underlined by criminality — even though exploiting the vulnerable is typically how most people acquire wealth in the first place. I Care a Lot also highlights this when Marla says “playing fair is a joke invented by rich people to keep the rest of us poor.”
Speaking to Collider, Blakeson explained a vital part of the film’s message — Marla’s pristine and caring image. “She’s very attractive, very well put together, well dressed. She seems to have a great, caring relationship with her girlfriend. She’s got great taste. Her office is beautiful and she’s kind of smart. She seems [like] a really great person.’ And then you would ask her, ‘What do you do for a living?’ She goes, ‘Well, you know, I take care of elderly people.’ And you think, ‘This lady’s great! She’s a saint!’” He goes on to explain that lots of people look the part, but sometimes there’s something sinister going on underneath. “Lots of different people in positions of authority […] get away with a lot because people just trust them.” Marla’s clean-cut and immaculate image is central to her character — her blunt, razor-sharp bob, and power suits indicate a sense of power and control which she wears like armour. Even when she gets her tooth knocked out, she is sure to visit the dentist before she returns to her daily hustle. The same can be said for Jennifer. On the outside, she appeared to be a sweet, old lady with no family and therefore easy to manipulate — but it turned out that wasn’t quite the case.
I Care a Lot invites us to look at Marla, who tells us that she cares — a lot, and asks us if we really trust and support her, just because she looks and acts the part, despite showing us all of the bad things she’s capable of. Do you believe that seemingly nice people commit acts of crime and violence? Should we support billionaires just because they seem nice and well put together? Did they get their money fairly or did they cheat the system? What is fair anyway? Marla’s ruse seems legal to the rest of the world, so maybe that’s why she gets away with it. Marla has a secret that she lets us in on at the start of the film. She tells us that she used to be just like us, thinking that working hard and playing fair leads to success and happiness. “It doesn’t,” she says. “There are two types of people in this world: The people who take, and those getting took. Predators and prey. Lions and lambs.” Guess which one she is.
