I Care a Lot Review: Rosamund Pike Returns with a ‘Gone Girl’ Worthy Performance

If you’re like me then you probably never recovered from the cinematic whiplash that was Rosamund Pike’s performance as cool girl Amy Dunne in Gone Girl.

Well, I’m here to let you know I Care a Lot isn’t just another home run for the high-calibre actress, it’s also everything you could want from a potential Ben Affleck-less follow-up to the film that has haunted us for seven long years.

This film, which follows Marla, a shady legal guardian who has the court appoint her as guardian of elderly citizens so she can drain their savings, is a colourful fast-talking thriller of violence and American greed. While Gone Girl is subtle in its morally grey thesis, I Care a Lot is outright blunt about showcasing how far Marla will go to rise to the top of the food chain.

Rosamund Pike ain’t gone, girl. She’s here, and as terrifying as ever.

I Care a Lot isn’t actually a sequel to Gone Girl — but it should be!

There are too many similarities between ruthless leads Marla and Amy not to praise how well their chilling performances play off each other. There’s just something about watching Pike lead this new era of unhonorable women doing whatever they please without fear of a man that I find incredibly satisfying.

Pike, with her razor-sharp murder bob and thousand-watt smile, is unstoppable whether she’s framing her husband for murder, or draining senior citizens of their assets.

She has perfected the female gaze for morally grey villainy and the payoff is a character so vile we shouldn’t want to spend five minutes with her — let alone an entire film. Yet we find ourselves counting down the seconds until she saunters back on screen in her killer high heels.

As much as her escapades make our stomach churn, we can’t look away from the beauty of this no-holds-bar performance, in all its vile and unlikeable glory. Marla Grayson is Pike in her strongest form.

Unlike Amy Dunne, Marla can’t be bothered to tie herself to some man. But her icy cold persona doesn’t refuse her love either. Marla’s coolness is complemented by the tender love she shares with Eiza González’s Fran, a passionate relationship that anchors this movie even when it loses its way.

It’s grand theft villainy at every turn and while Pike controls the narrative of the film, the stacked ensemble tasked with taking her down brings all the necessary chaos to try and turn the agenda in their favour.

Chris Messina’s over-the-top portrayal of the sleazy lawyer, Dean Ericson, doesn’t come a moment too soon. He is the first antagonist tasked with removing Marla from her throne, and while he barely makes a mark on Jennifer’s legal case, he leaves his mark on this film. 

Only Messina could pull off pin-striped three-piece suits this ridiculous and have the time to threaten Marla’s life, all with that coy Cheshire grin on his smug face.

He’s no match for Marla, but Pike and Messina make fascinating advisories, even in passing.

The main appeal of Gone Girl came during the film’s reveal that the main male protagonist isn’t half as capable as his wife. I Care a Lot recognizes it no longer has the luxury of having Pike pull punches, and doesn’t toy with Marla’s feminity as a guise.

It’s clear from the first scene, she is the lioness and few can match her as a predator.

Enter Peter Dinklage, an actor whose roster of roles give him an equally terrifying presence on screen as Pike. He matches her villainous energy easily and pushes back with a brute force that rials Marla’s calculated planning. He is a valuable force in this hurricane of insanely powerful performances.

Both antagonists are quick on their feet and unbothered by a direct banter that cuts through the bullshit. They’re not afraid to swing the bat before the other can get up to pitch either. 

The calibre of acting Pike and Dinklage brings to this chess match is glorious as the tension builds and Rukov becomes increasingly desperate to get his mother back. It’s an honour to see Dinklage give our thriller queen pause for concern.

The film reaches glorious heights in its first half, but it truly hits its pinnacle when Martha gives up on playing nice with Jennifer and delivers an assault of verbal blows with that unnerving smile.

Her calculated malice demonstrates the restraint that makes this antagonist particularly great.

Marla’s bone-chilling delivery of the line, “I don’t lose. I won’t lose” alines perfectly with the escalation of the film’s plot, signifying a gear change. Pike forces a pause and you can practically feel the tension of her words. It’s truly a powerful delivery and the moment I Care a Lot‘s successes come into sharp focus.

It helps that for the first time Weist matches this energy with her own sinister delivery when she looks Marla dead in the eye and says she will die for this. It’s the perfect escalation as we realize that Jennifer isn’t who she says she is — she’s something much worse.

Not only do both actresses bring the necessary energy to the dialogue but their back and forth exchange encompasses everything that makes these vile characters work so well.

Unfortunately, the back half of the film talks a big game but when it comes to following through on its threats of a good time, I Care a Lot just doesn’t have enough conviction — or direction.

Everything that makes the first half feel like a careless joyride through corporate greed is consumed by sporadic pacing and a conclusion that isn’t nearly as smart as it could be.

For the first time, it feels like Marla’s sure-fire conviction is no match for her muddled execution. The pacing all but comes to a halt after Marla pulls herself from the lake; and instead of a dangerous game of cat and mouse ensuing between Dinklage and Pike’s characters, Marla immediately retaliates with a perfect swing.

Her win comes effortlessly and for the final moments of this film, we swift through an hour’s worth of information that seems like convenient cough-outs for these two powerhouse antagonists, rather than a satisfying ending.

When Marla finally gets her comeuppance at the hands of a mere-bystander in her tirade, it feels too little too late for the film. I Care a Lot can’t decide what fate these characters deserve and the end product is a film that fumbles the stellar work of its ensemble when the touchdown is right within in its grasp.

I Care A Lot proves once again that there’s no rest for the wicked — not when Pike is at the helm.

This film may let the power of having all these big players on the board go to its head, but the moments where this dark thriller has us completely in its clutches are horribly entertaining.

Marla’s story is no cheap imitation of Pike’s leading role in Gone Girl. Instead, I Care a Lot lets Pike explore an equally flawed antiheroine who uses her femininity as an advantage. Someone who is in full control of the film’s sinister narrative and likes it that way.

Amy or Marla are both separate and important additions to this new genre of female-led thrillers, with Pike letting us know she is always down to be the kind of leading lady who keeps us shifting uncomfortably in our seats.

Rosamund Pike may not be the final girl of this film but she sure as hell acts like it. That’s all we could ask of an actress whose characters continue to stay with us long after we forget about their films.

What did you think of I Care A Lot? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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I Care A Lot is streaming now on Netflix and Amazon Prime.

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