Girlboss

She steals because she cares.

Marla Grayson (Rosamund Pike) is a legal guardian who gets her elderly wards assigned to assisted living facilities to sell off their house and belongings while also stealing their life savings. That is so appalling yet legal, you know there is a 100% chance of it happening in real life. One day, Marla bites off a bit more than she can chew with Jennifer Peterson (Dianne Wiest), who ends up being the mother of Russian gangster Roman Lunyov (Peter Dinklage).

At first, Roman tries to do things the legal way. He sends in lawyer Dean Ericson (Chris Messina) to inform Marla of Jennifer’s powerful friends and, if that fails, to bribe her with a suitcase full of money. Marla refuses, saying, “you know how many times I’ve been threatened by a man.” Yes, she fails to consider that there’s a difference between Feldstrom (Macon Blair), a nobody, saying he hopes Marla gets raped/killed and a man with obvious criminal connections making a not so veiled death threat. That has a high probability of ending well.

It’s hard to get invested in a movie where everyone is awful. Besides Marla’s heinous business practices, she just radiates smugness throughout the whole movie. Roman is a little better with a more sympathetic motive, but he’s still a criminal involved with what seems to be human trafficking. Then, (spoiler) upon reaching a stalemate, Roman proposes that he and Marla team up to turn her scam into a business empire with hundreds of wards, with her as the CEO and co-owner. (So, turning down Roman’s initial offer ends up working out for Marla? What are the odds?) (/spoiler) That said, I found this movie captivating, which I credit to the charisma of Pike and Dinklage.

Interestingly, Marla, a lesbian, and Roman, a dwarf, come with a whole host of stereotypes that the movie avoids. Marla’s sexuality not only doesn’t relate to her villainy, but the genuine care she shows for her partner Fran (Eiza González) is her only redeeming quality. Roman is a dangerous criminal but lacks any overcompensation through violence, sexual or otherwise. Both of which were good to see in a movie.

In the end, (spoiler) right when it seems like Marla’s gotten everything she ever wanted, Feldstrom from earlier in the movie shows up and kills her. Now, applying last-minute consequences after a whole movie of being immoral and ruthless working out does seem a little cheap. Plus, the more realistic ending probably would have been for Marla to get away with everything. At the same time, Marla getting shot made me loudly exclaim, ‘thank you, God.’ (/spoiler)

The whole underlying lesson of this movie is that American capitalism is bad. Granted, much like Sorry To Bother You, I Care A Lot is more subtle about its message than most films would be. It’s most overt when Ericson says that if Marla’s operation isn’t the perfect example of the American Dream, he doesn’t know what is. A little food for thought as we approach America’s birthday.