When we first saw the trailer, myself included of course. Rosamund Pike's appearance in the trailer has a big role in why we are so interested in watching this film. Then when you read the premise it strengthens your desire to watch the film which besides Rosamund Pike this film is supported by Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones, X-men days of Future Past), Eiza Gonzalez (Godzilla vs Kong, Alita: Battle Angel) and Dianne Wiest (Rabbit Hole, The Mule).
Marla Grayson (Rosamund Pike), an advocate and con artist who already has high flying hours. The feeling of sympathy that has been lost makes him indiscriminate in choosing his victims and drains the wealth of the elderly who should be protected. With the support of the court, which he also manages to manipulate and is fully supported by his partner and lover, Fran (Eiza Gonzalez) and his lawyer, he manages to take full rights to the management of the elderly's property. These elderly are those who are no longer able to take care of themselves. Instead of providing legal assistance for the assets owned by the elderly, he actually robbed them of their assets slyly.
As the saying goes, 'No matter how good a squirrel jumps, it will eventually fall' . Likewise with Marla. His deception led him to the worst situation he'd ever been in, when he tricked an elderly woman named Jennifer Peterson (Dianne Wiest) who lured out Roman Luyov (Peter Dinklage), a mafia kingpin. This time Marla deceived the man who not only threatened the reputation she had built, but also her life.
As stated above, I Care a Lot has an interesting premise and it is evident in the first 30 minutes of us the audience getting to know the character of Marla Grayson to the main plot. Marla's character, played by Rosamund Pike, is so strong. Marla's character is described as very ambitious, greedy, insatiable, antipathetic but meticulously told in a narrative. It would be very easy for the audience to hate and swear at the character Marla and it proves how perfect Rosamund Pike played this character.
But unfortunately, the strength of Rosamund Pike is also a weakness of this film. Marla Grayson's character arc as to why she's the worst person we've ever seen isn't explained. From beginning to end the audience will consistently hate this character. Either J. Blakeson, who wrote the script and directed this film at the same time, deliberately only shows the bad side of Marla without bothering to dig up what made her character like that. But oddly enough, the character of Roman Ruyov, whose position is antagonistic, is still given a room for sympathy from the audience compared to the protagonist.
Regardless of whether we intentionally or unintentionally don't provide a background for Marla Grayson's character, I Care a Lot is a film that seems to want to show the strong who survive and the weak vice versa. The bad one, the bad one. No need for sympathy anymore. It looks like judgmental, and in our daily lives we already do that. I Care a Lot in the end will not give satisfaction to Rosamund Pike's performance but not for viewers who really enjoy character development in a film.
