J Blakeson’s I Care a Lot wears a lot of hats. What starts as a genuinely electrifying satire centered around a morally repugnant legal guardian who grifts the elderly out of their assets and autonomy slinks into all kinds of genre territory; becoming at various points a pulpy thriller, a tongue-in-cheek dark comedy, and a pointed takedown of our national tendency to slide the old and aging out of public view. It is at times trying to do too many things, and is noticeably better in certain arenas than others, but when Blakeson’s lampoon of carnivorous capitalism sinks its teeth in deep and his performers rein fire and brimstone down upon each other, I Care a Lot‘s fiendish joys are simply irresistible.

A gloriously crooked Rosamund Pike is center stage as Marla Grayson, a small-time grifter who preys upon the ostensibly-infirm, working her network of unscrupulous doctors, inept judges, and nefarious caretaker facilities managers to trap retirees in a legal bind of guardianship by declaring them unfit to take care of themselves. Almost always when that is not the case. In essence, Marla kidnaps the elderly away from their families, loved ones, and worldly possessions, selling off their assets, alienating them from their support network, and using the funds to pay herself and her partner in geronticide – and foreplay – Fran (Eiza González) a handsome fee.

When the wicked wolf in couture sheep’s clothing goes after “cherry” Jennifer Peterson (a fantastic Dianne Wiest), a woman with a well of riches and no apparent family, she finds herself in deep with sinister company, including a toothy shark of a lawyer played to perfection by Chris Messina and criminal boss Roman Lunyov (Peter Dinklage) who inspires fear in his underlings even as he’s snacking on French pastries.

I Care a Lot thrives in all sorts of wicked interactions, Blakeson’s pen spilling its best ink when whipping up verbal spars that his cast is more than game to chew up and spit in each other’s faces. Pike delivers one of her best (and most ruthless – which is no small feat) roles as Marla, the fire of unchecked greed roaring behind her devilish eyes, her smallest gesture laden with malice and manipulation. She is a harbinger of mortal sin made mortal and Pike imbues her with an impassioned, fearless drive that explains the moral rot that has eaten away any ethical imperative that she once had. That the rest of the cast is still able to remain so memorable while flanked by such a towering turn is no small feat, the venerable Wiest making a huge impression, even though her presence in the film is unfortunately dampened just when it’s getting most delicious.

The film’s shifting focus and buck-wild tonality is partially to blame here. As tensions ramp up between Marla and Roman, Blakeson’s film abandons its mocking satirical bite (and Pike’s velvety, diabolical voiceover) and leans callously into hardline thriller. Before ultimately falling back into satire by closing time. The effect can cause a bit of whiplash, and leave audiences more than uncertain about why they should care about the well-being of any one of this hive of scum and villainy, but in the context of such otherwise-searing character beats and interactions, it’s a hiccup that doesn’t shock the train entirely from its tracks. Rather, it’s a case of a movie failing to rise to its full occasion of greatness.

CONCLUSION: Rosamund Pike leads a deliciously contemptible cast of characters in J Blakeson’s dark-satire-cum-crime-thriller ‘I Care a Lot’. Though the film suffers the sin of having its cake and eating it too (and doesn’t always succeed wrestling together conflicting tones), the biting script and devilish performances bury that shortcoming many times over.