Playing fair is a concept invented by the rich to keep the rest of us poor

Continuing my trip up The Guardian's Top 50 Films of 2021 

#32 : I Care A Lot

Rosamund Pike is exquisitely nasty in J Blakeson’s toxic thriller, playing a black-hearted con artist who drains the bank accounts of well-off elderly patients after gaining legal guardianship of them.

I'd heard this was good and I like Rosamund Pike - I thought of her as always playing "nice" roles (she's a very lovely Jane Bennet in Pride And Prejudice) so was looking forward to seeing her in this playing against type, but then remembered that she's not exactly all that nice in Gone Girl.  But she was good in that, so I was still looking forward to it anyway!

And boy is this dark - Rosamund Pike is indeed exquisitely nasty as Marla Grayson gaining legal guardianship over people with a view to asset-stripping them - there's a whole system in place that positively encourages it or is at least easily gamed to allow it.  The process is all set up and explained very quickly and when victory is achieved over the latest target merely 20 minutes in, you're not entirely sure where the film is find to go to.  

And then, 30 minutes in, Peter Dinklage appears with a very fine beard and a very menacing manner and you suspect that, just possibly, this case isn't go to quite as smoothly as Marla would like it to.  And then we meet Dean Ericson (Chris Messina - who I knew I'd seen before but struggled to remember it was here as well as season 3 of The Sinner) who has the potential to be even more unpleasant than Martha and it all ratchets up quite nicely.  And I think that's all I should say really, but it goes through considerably more twists and turns (some sillier than others) than I was expecting before it reaches a VERY satisfactory conclusion which I didn't see coming at all.

For those of you that have seen the film, one random thought I had (don't worry - it's no spoiler for the rest of you) was wtf was going on with her tooth?  It's a very bizarrely (to me) specific plot point which adds absolutely nothing to the film, so I don't understand why it was included.  Answers on a postcard please.

Taking a slightly broader view, the system of guardianship is a fascinating one which makes for a very interesting backdrop for the film - there's an argument it gets somewhat glossed over in order to feed the thriller element, but this isn't supposed to be a documentary.  It's nice to see a film featuring absolutely zero good guys and it makes for a fascinating battle for your sympathies - Rosamund Pike is an excellent baddie and Peter Dinklage matches her step for step, ably assisted by Chris Messina.  Dianne Wiest also plays the target well in a very satisfying role for an older woman - if not least for her excellent use of the c word, which always works more effectively when you're not expecting it.

The film is also more stylishly shot than you might expect - it uses some interesting camera angles and sound.  It's written and directed by J Blakeson whose debut feature was The Disappearance Of Alice Creed, which is another nicely twisty film and well worth checking out if you've not seen it.  And I'll be interested to see what he does next - which will be Culprits, a heist TV series for Disney+ according to Wikipedia.

In a lot of ways, this film feels like a bit of a throwback - they don't make so many twisty-turny thrillers these days but it also has a very modern feel to it.  I really enjoyed it and thoroughly recommend it - you're not going to want to watch it over and over but in my opinion it's well worth two hours of your time.

At the time of writing, it's available to watch on Amazon Prime - and there are far worse options on there, I can assure you.

#33 - A bit too soapy for me
#31 - An enjoyingly troubling film - but is it transgressive?