I Care A Lot (2021)

[tennisgurl]

I was really curious about this because I love Rosamund Pike and Peter Dinklage and because it got a lot of good reviews, and its definitely one of those movies that I appreciate more than I enjoyed. It was well acted, well shot, and had an interesting plot, but it seemed like it had a lot of ideas that never really came to fruition the way I wanted them to. This has been marketed as a black comedy, even getting Golden Globes in the comedy category, but I did not get black comedy from this at all. It had possibly a few dark laughs, mostly with the bumbling mobsters, but it was mostly humorless. If they wanted it to be a dark comedy, I think they needed to go bigger or bloodier, or just add more lively dialogue, but this just wasn't funny. Not in that it had jokes that didn't work, but there were literally not jokes, and if there were jokes I must have missed them. A lot of dark comedies involving unsympathetic criminals fighting with other unsympathetic criminals also usually focuses more on their quirks and hijinks, like in a lot of Tarantino movies or movies like Fargo, but none of the characters were particularly quirky, just varying degrees of evil. So while I thought it was an interesting movie, I wouldn't call it a comedy. Its also a bit harder to laugh when you are seeing the victims of the main characters terrible crimes so much, especially when there isn't a lot of humor in general to balance it out. I think if it wanted to be a dark crime comedy, it really needed more energy, or to be more stylized. 

Being a big fan of Gone Girl, it was really hard for me not to compare Rosamund Pikes's two sociopaths disguised as good people characters that like to narrate their world views to the audience, and it kind of leads more to why I cant really get as into this movie as I should on paper. She was very intense and interesting here of course, but Marla really just lacks the personality and layers that Amy had that kept her so engaging even as we saw her doing terrible things. She was horrible, but she also had the charisma to fake being a nice or fun person so I bought that people would buy into her bullshit, and even when she was terrible she had a lot going on besides being terrible. Her motivations were complex and you knew enough about her that you could actually see why she has ended up this way. Marla basically had one mode the entire movie: smug. Even when she was trying to pretend to be nice she was just doused in smug, every single moment she was just smug and evil. Even when she was with her girlfriend, the only person she seems to kind of care about, you could still see the smug radiating off the screen. Its like following the one episode bad guy from a procedural for two hours, I felt like by the end I still knew nothing about her besides she's amoral, she's obsessed with winning, and she likes money. Not very complex or interesting, especially when she is carrying so much of the film.  She even shares Amy's tendencies to excuse her evil as a form of feminism or empowerment, but with Amy is felt like a part of her psychosis and warped view of the world, while with Marla it just feels like another excuse to be smug. She isn't even particularly charming or funny or competent in the way really compelling but very evil villains can be, so while I think RP was great she just didn't have much to work with. Its probably unfair to compare this movie so much to a different one, but there were just too many similarities for me to avoid. 

I actually wanted more of Jennifer, she was the character that I wanted to know the most about and had the most life in her. Her scenes and the scenes with the gangsters were probably the closest to comedy the movie got, especially when Jennifer was cracking up about how her son was going to murder Marla. 

The best part really was the ending, karma really is a mother fucker. I would have liked to see the rest of the awful people in this movie get what was coming for them, and yeah yeah murder is bad, but...

[kieyra]

On 2/22/2021 at 12:17 PM, JessePinkman said:

I was actually more into the movie when I thought Dianne Weist's Jennifer was going to be the first person able to go toe-to-toe with Marla. I wanted to see her meet her equal in this senior citizen.

This was when I checked out. The trailers were misleading.

[Suzn]

I absolutely despised this movie.  I can't  think offhand of any movie I hated more.  It was so unpleasant that at the point that I could see that Marla was not getting her deserved comeuppance, I fast forwarded to the last 10 minutes of the movie.

Spoiler

I have never been happier to see a character killed. But as others have pointed out, she should have had the tables turned on her by Jennifer.  That's about the only thing that could have redeemed this nasty poisonous movie.  

I can appreciate black humor and don't need to have anyone explain it to me; this repulsive movie was no shade of humor.

The lesser crime of this movie is the preposterous way Marla survived at all.  It would have been so easy for her to have been tortured and killed. There - problem solved.

I've never written a review before that was just me spewing venom, but this one deserves nothing more.

Edited March 4, 2021 by Suzn

[Cotypubby]

4 hours ago, Suzn said:

Spoiler

 

I can appreciate black humor and don't need to have anyone explain it to me; this repulsive movie was no shade of humor.

Ditto. So far I have seen nothing to explain why it’s considered a comedy. So I’ll ask again: for those who think it’s a comedy, what are those scenes that were funny? Just posting that “Black comedies don’t appeal to everyone” doesn’t say anything about what makes this film a black comedy.

[Milburn Stone]

6 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

Ditto. So far I have seen nothing to explain why it’s considered a comedy. So I’ll ask again: for those who think it’s a comedy, what are those scenes that were funny? Just posting that “Black comedies don’t appeal to everyone” doesn’t say anything about what makes this film a black comedy.

I'm going to try to answer, but first, let it be known that I make no defense of the HFPA's decision to put it in the comedy-musical category, or any other decision by the HFPA for that matter.

So what scenes did I, Milburn Stone, consider comedic? I can't cite chapter and verse, but can answer generally, which I guess is more than anyone else has attempted. Scenes which showed the sheer high spirits of Maria as she carried out her evil plots; scenes which hinted at her possible comeuppance at the hands of Lunyov and his cronies; Maria's sheer high spirits as she cleverly parried these; the exaggerated awfulness and the sheer panache of her amorality (a more realistic portrayal of what goes on in the senior-care industrial complex would have been simply terrifying, not funny); all these were scenes which justify, in my mind, the description of the movie as a comedy, even though, it hardly need be said, mileage varies.

[kieyra]

With the disclaimer that I don't watch a lot of films and this isn't a hill I'm gonna die on--

When I do think of 'black humor' and the kind of black humor I enjoy, there is always at least one redeemable character you can root for, even if the majority of screentime is given over to the bad guys/sociopaths/whatever. Or, in a Fargo type of setup, at least a few characters who are not sociopaths. (The Fargo 'good cop' trope, if you will.)

With misanthrope-centered black humor in TV (I think of House MD, You're The Worst), part of the draw is seeing those moments of humanity shine through in these people who are acting in terrible and self-centered/self-destructive ways. (I guess you can throw Dexter in here, but I always hated Dexter's basic premise. Which could also explain why I moved quickly to the "Nope!" crowd on I Care a Lot. It could also explain why I have zero tolerance these days for Very Serious, Very Sociopathic Men Doing Very Serious Crime prestige shows.) 

Like I said, don't watch much film, but if I think back to a classic black comedy like 'Death Becomes Her', Bruce Willis's character was the one you could root for.

I don't know, just my random thoughts on the debate.

[Suzn]

2 hours ago, Milburn Stone said:

I'm going to try to answer, but first, let it be known that I make no defense of the HFPA's decision to put it in the comedy-musical category, or any other decision by the HFPA for that matter.

So what scenes did I, Milburn Stone, consider comedic? I can't cite chapter and verse, but can answer generally, which I guess is more than anyone else has attempted. Scenes which showed the sheer high spirits of Maria as she carried out her evil plots; scenes which hinted at her possible comeuppance at the hands of Lunyov and his cronies; Maria's sheer high spirits as she cleverly parried these; the exaggerated awfulness and the sheer panache of her amorality (a more realistic portrayal of what goes on in the senior-care industrial complex would have been simply terrifying, not funny); all these were scenes which justify, in my mind, the description of the movie as a comedy, even though, it hardly need be said, mileage varies.

Obviously, this is about individual taste and not about fact based, debatable issues, but the things you considered comedic were things that particularly turned my stomach.

[Razzberry]

Edited March 5, 2021 by Razzberry

[Razzberry]

The hair and wardrobe departments deserve some awards.  Marla's blunt cut and stupid little ponytail cracked me up.  Someone already mentioned Chris Messina's cheap suit.

Roman's henchman Alexi may have used the same hair stylist, but his taste in clothes was atrocious for someone who should be keeping a low profile.  Nicholas Logan is new to me but was so funny.

The nursing home shootout (just saying that makes me laugh) was another highlight.

 

Oh, and I don't know why this makes me laugh, it just does.

 

 

Edited March 5, 2021 by Razzberry

[Grumpymonkey]

I also did not find this movie funny. I do enjoy dark comedies at times and I sometimes feel guilty for laughing at gags in them but I still do. I laughed at nothing in this and had to google the end about 30 minutes in because if Marla lived I would have shut it off then and there. I still had to FF some parts because it just wasn't fun to watch. DW was the best part and I wish she was featured more and like others posted if she would have bested Marla it would have made it a little worthwhile.

[benteen]

I honestly think if they had given DW more to do, she would have gotten some award recognition.  She can still bring it.

[pfk505]

Black comedy you say? I laughed. When Marla got shot at the end of the movie.

Too little too late though.

[Madding crowd]

I hate movies about helpless people getting hurt and I was fuming that a care home would actually take away a patient ‘s pain medication, force them painful physical therapy and then force them to take uppers so they can’t sleep. Not one employee of that place would notice a patient being tortured?

There were a lot things that didn’t make sense. If a patient comes into a hospital with no identification, the staff tries to find next of kin and medical staff may get temporary guardianship to administer treatment. The idea that a guardian would be able to continue to be in charge of a person’s life after they wake up and are of sound mind is ridiculous. Wouldn’t Dinklage’s character immediately contact his attorney? Hospital‘s would not allow Marla to forbid him from using the phone and she wouldn’t be given a permanent guardianship in any case.

Just nothing funny about old people being treated like dirt. 

[lasu]

2 hours ago, Madding crowd said:

Just nothing funny about old people being treated like dirt. 

No, nothing funny at all.  In real life. But in the movies, you can make anything funny, at least to some folks.  Teen suicide isn't funny, but Heathers is.  Dragging around a corpse isn't funny, but Weekend at Bernie's is (ish).   There's certainly nothing funny about Hitler or the atrocities Jewish people faced, but Jojo Rabbit is hilarious. Ditto for Inglorious Basterds.  Schitt's Creek got a legit lol out of me over the death of a kitten, and believe you me, I'm notoriously uptight about even completely fake harm to animals.  I can't tell you how many awful, awful things I have laughed at in It's Always Sunny or other similar shows.

My point is that's what dark comedy is (and not everyone likes black comedy and that's ok!  It doesn't have to mean you just don't "get it").  Taking something that is inherently NOT funny, and making it funny.  If you can get me to laugh at something that makes me feel vaguely bad about myself, you are fucking funny.  (As an aside, to be funny when it comes to any marginalized group, the group can NEVER be the target of the joke.) So, I absolutely think you could make a dark comedy about a woman who steals control of elderly people.  However, this wasn't it.  This just wasn't a good movie, no matter what label you put on it.

[Madding crowd]

I hear you and agree with the movies you mentioned. This one could have had the old people fighting back or something to add a different twist but I’m convinced we were sort of expected to root for Marla because she was so daring and tough and I didn’t. I would have liked her stuck in one of her care homes, that would be black comedy to me.

[Milburn Stone]

1 hour ago, Madding crowd said:

I hear you and agree with the movies you mentioned. This one could have had the old people fighting back or something to add a different twist but I’m convinced we were sort of expected to root for Marla because she was so daring and tough and I didn’t. I would have liked her stuck in one of her care homes, that would be black comedy to me.

By no stretch of the imagination do I think we were meant to root for Marla. This points up a common, perhaps universal, problem. No matter what the movie, if we sense the filmmakers intend us to feel a certain way, and we don't feel that way, we hate them. I went in pretty prepared to find Marla a monster, and I found her a blackly funny monster. But I've definitely had the experience you describe, where you intuit some intention that may not even be there, and find yourself on a different page from an intention the filmmakers weren't going for at all.

[Madding crowd]

Perhaps my opinion was from the articles I read extolling Marla as “not taking crap from any man” and doing the same things men have gotten away with forever. Admittedly, these were not from the director but from professional movie reviews I have read. 
 

Actually, one of the quotes was from the director: 

Edited March 25, 2021 by Madding crowd
Add quote

[kieyra]

Now I’m really trying to figure out if I would have viewed things differently if Marla had been Martin instead, so to speak. 

It still doesn’t work for me, because watching a “bad guy” who is victimizing the helpless just run along unopposed isn’t really entertaining. 

If someone can think of a good example of the same exact kind of story where the protagonist was male, let me know. 

(These days I really loathe shows and movies that glorify organized or white-collar crime, so that probably already puts me into the wrong demo. But I’m still curious about the difference a gender swap would or wouldn’t make.)

[lasu]

Fearless and ambitious?  They're saying this like Marla is someone we should root for because she is walking a man's path, but it's an asshole's path no matter the gender.  She didn't just use her "smarts" instead of sexuality to get ahead in a man's world, she was a con woman who caused real harm to a LOT of vulnerable people.  The director and I do not see the same woman.

[katha]

Sociopathic jerk as main character and/or narrator is so difficult to pull off and I don't think movie makers that attempt it always realize how much careful decision-making it needs. "American Psycho", "Fight Club" or "Gone Girl" were some that worked, but you're walking a fine line. And even if it's done right, sometimes you have some misguided audience members taking it at face value anyway, like with "Fight Club".

You're also in for a very alienating, cold movie usually, or you need to set up some counter narrative that contrasts with the focus on the sociopath, and making any of that work also needs a lot of skill.

Edited March 26, 2021 by katha

[A.Ham]

On 3/3/2021 at 5:10 PM, Rickster said:

I think whether people see this as a “comedy”, may depend on how close they may be to elderly friends or relatives who could be in this situation. For some of us it hits too close to home

There it is.

I hated this with the heat of a thousand burning suns. Ok, that is an exaggeration. But still, I want those two hours of my life back.

I’ve had not one or two, but four family members affected by dementia, including my mother who I am currently caring for in my home. One of my aunts already passed, another is in a nursing home, and I just discovered that the youngest one has been taken advantage of by her husband’s sleazy cousins for about $800.00. 

So I watched this and the only part I liked was Diane’s character, even all drugged up, saying a smiley “I am your worst nightmare”. I would have much preferred the revenge to come straight from Diane’s character, or at the very least, for the ending to be the drowning (with and added comeuppance for mafia boss being found out and jailed). And really, even Marla’s death was too little, too late—she had already created a whole-ass corporation of Marlas along with mafia boss. Ugh…

[Hanahope]

I just watched this last night and agree it didn't really fit my definition of a black comedy, other than they clearly tried to keep the tone "light" like the "hijinks" of Alexie trying to get Jennifer out of the retirement home, and the "ease" that Marla took out Roman's henchmen.  but the subject matter was so dark, so upsetting that honestly i think its impossible to make the subject matter in any way "comedic."  and there was no feel good ending except, well, you know.  but that was very brief and doesn't really solve the overall issue, which no doubt continued forward with a new CEO, since Marla was no longer showing up in court herself, doing the guardianships herself.  

and clearly the number of people involved to do the scam in the first place, let alone take it nationwide is staggering.  sure, you can probably find one doctor willing to be paid off to lie to a judge about the condition of the elderly patients.  but with the number of wards Marla had even initially you'd think she'd have to have several doctors.  otherwise, even a super gullible judge, like the one shown (and at first i thought he was on the take too), would start to question why it was always the same doctor and the same guardian getting these people.

and then you needed a retirement home operator on the take, and probably at least a few of the administrators getting a little extra to look the other way and/or enforce the clearly improper guardian requests.

can you find that in one city?  i guess, sure.  but nationwide like that?  and not draw the attention of someone?  and none of the family members could hire competent legal counsel on their own?  the scene with the son arguing himself in front of the judge while his attorney sat like an paperweight at the table?  really?

and then to try and make us like Marla by making her all rah rah feminist?  that's just insulting.

But, good for the movie for bringing this very real problem to the screen and making people more aware of this.

 

 

 

 

[Joimiaroxeu]

Just got around to watching this. I had heard it was somewhat enraging until the last few minutes so I sort of expected Marla to get some kind of comeuppance. I was okay with her dying but ditto comments upthread, that still left the two other main villains unpunished. Meh.

It was funny to me how much suspension of disbelief this movie required. Marla was practically like an over-the-top James Bond villain.

And, half the movie I kept wondering why they cast Rosamund Pike instead Sarah Paulson, lol. Some enterprising person in Hollywood needs to get those two in a movie together.