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‘I Care a Lot’ Film Review: Rosamund Pike Is Very Bad, and That’s Pretty Good
J Blakeson’s black comedy is a nasty little piece of provocation based around scenery-chewing badness from Pike and Peter DinklageSteve Pond | February 18, 2021 @ 8:05 AM
AWARDS BEAT
TIFF
“I Care a Lot” is a test that throws a lot of different but related questions at its viewers:
Will you hate the central character, Marla Grayson, even though she’s played by Rosamund Pike, who showed in “Gone Girl” that she’s very, very good at playing very, very bad?
Is it OK to root for her if the people coming after her are very, very bad, too?
Notes on a Scandal
Stage favorites Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett star in this psychological thriller, based on Zoë Hellerâs 2003 novel. Dench plays a veteran teacher who befriends Blanchett, the schoolâs new art teacher, but an explosive secret threatens everything. The 2006 film has stage pedigree behind the scenes as well, with Richard Eyre directing and Robert Fox and Scott Rudin producing.
Disney+
The Muppet Show, 1976 ATV
The Muppet Show (February 19)
All five seasons of the fan-favorite series are coming to the streamer. Structured like a vaudeville variety show, the show was practically Broadway-adjacent with a string of guest stars including Ethel Merman, Bernadette Peters, Pearl Bailey, Elton John, Leslie Uggams, Joel Grey, and Carol Channing.
Here’s the synopsis via Netflix: “Poised with sharklike self-assurance, Marla Grayson (
Pike) is a professional, court-appointed guardian for dozens of elderly wards whose assets she seizes and cunningly bilks through dubious but legal means. It’s a well-oiled racket that Marla and her business-partner and lover Fran (
González) use with brutal efficiency on their latest “cherry,” Jennifer Peterson (
Wiest) – a wealthy retiree with no living heirs or family. But when their mark turns out to have an equally shady secret of her own and connections to a volatile gangster (
Dinklage), Marla is forced to level up in a game only predators can play – one that’s neither fair, nor square.”