![]() “I thought he had legs,” remarks the doctor ( Alicia Witt) who serves up her potential marks, for a cut. So when she gets the news that one of her clients has died, she pulls his headshot off the wall where it hangs among dozens of others, wads it up and throws it in the trash without a drop of emotion. That much would have been obvious without her opening voiceover, in which she justifies her scam: “Playing fair is a joke invented by rich people to keep the rest of us poor.” During a court hearing at the film’s start, she argues in persuasive, clear-eyed fashion that she can more accurately assess what’s in the best interest of her clients because she has no skin in the game, unlike family members who are fraught with emotional baggage and financial expectations. With her razor-sharp blonde bob, monochromatic suits, and ever-present vape pen, Marla is a woman driven by cold, hard ambition. Pike’s Marla Grayson is the towering embodiment of unchecked avarice within a system that’s ripe for exploitation. ![]() Blakeson, whose previous films include the stylish mystery “The Disappearance of Alice Creed” as well as the derivative dystopian YA thriller “ The 5th Wave,” has said he was inspired and enraged by stories he read about predatory guardians taking advantage of voiceless victims. But it’s also so infuriating that you probably couldn’t stomach watching the whole thing were it not for the riveting lead performance from Rosamund Pike. The grift is impressive in “I Care a Lot,” writer/director J Blakeson’s pitch-black comedy. And once all the pieces are in place, the guardian is free to drain this unsuspecting woman of every penny she’s got.
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