The Prestige TV Podcast - 'I Care A Lot' Exit Survey

Episode Date: February 24, 2021

Chris Ryan and Amanda Dobbins give their review of 'I Care a Lot,' the new Netflix movie starring Rosamund Pike and Peter Dinklage. Hosts: Chris Ryan and Amanda Dobbins Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

My name is Marla Grayson. I'm just someone who cares. Marla Grayson, you've had amazing success. What's your secret? There is no secret, Peter. She forces them into the home, auctions off their house. And uses the proceeds to pay herself. Because caring is my job.

I will grab your dick and balls, and I will rip them clean off. Welcome to TV concierge, a podcast on the ringer.com, that helps you navigate the vast streaming landscape. My name is Chris Ryan. I host The Watch. I host The Answer. I'm joined by Amanda Dobbins, host of The Big Picture,

host of Jam Session. Hi, Amanda. Hello, Christopher. We are here to talk about the number one streaming film on Netflix right now. I care a lot, directed by Jay Blakson, starring Rosman Pike,

Peter Dengledge, and Diane Weist. And Amanda, I will start. As we usually do with our exit survey questions, I'm going to ask you for your tweet-length review, of this movie. Do you want the cute answer or the real answer? I want the real answer. And you can break Twitter guidelines

and go more than 240 characters. Well, the real answer is that this movie was not for me and I was pretty confused by it and pretty confused by it being at the number one spot on Netflix. Those are a lot of different issues, right? It being number one in Netflix

and me not being super into the vibe, very separate. And I want to talk more about why and how it became so popular because this is not the type of movie that we see at number one on Netflix that often. I mean, we just don't see movies at number one on that or new movies at number one on Netflix that often. My cute answer was a little bit about like the combination of styles here. And I think that's what didn't work for me about it.

It was like part a movie directed by Instagram, you know, with the Bob haircut and all the pink and like the, this hyper stylized, pops of color everywhere. Like, honestly, it looked very nice. Part of it is that it's like a really grim date line story, you know, like about elder abuse. And then Peter Dinklage is also there in like an S&L skit about the Russian mob, which just seems like a completely separate film. And I like all of, I don't like, you know, the stories depicted on date line.

Those are really upsetting. But I like everything else that's going on. It's just that they're mashed together in ways that didn't co-elect. for me. But that's me talking for a while. What do you think? That's your Twitter thread. Okay. Yeah. This would be like some thoughts on I care a lot, one of seven, you know? Right. My review, my tweet length review would basically be, I can't remember a movie where I was actively cheering for the death of every major character in the film. And I am somebody who actually like strangely prides himself on not getting like too judgmental about characters and movies.

or TV shows or books. Like, I don't treat them like they're real people. I don't treat them like they deserve certain justice or, you know, committed certain wrongs. And yet the specific nature of what's going on in this film, and we can get into this, just, I was actually like in the middle of the movie being like, I wonder how they'll kill Rosamund Pike. That will be cool.

And I'm like, that's a gross feeling to have while you're watching a movie. It's interesting because this movie is definitely playing with that idea of who are you supposed to root for. and it wants you to hate everybody. And I think, like, Rosamine Pike's performance has been singled out. She's nominated for a Golden Globe. She's wonderful. I'm always happy to see Rosamund Pike.

She's kind of made a career of these movies post-gones of these roles post-Gone Girl of just, like, being the edgy, ice-cold character who you root for even though you're not supposed to. And I think even in this movie, she's playing a little bit with that idea of, are you supposed to root for this person? But the movie is really provoking you with every single. character and every single motivation to the point that there's nothing to latch on to. And I don't want to be a simple person, but I kind of at the end of the day, am when it comes to movies. And it's like if there's no one to root for and there's like no direction and it's just constantly poking at you, like you get kind of tired or I did at least. It also, I would say that this movie doesn't really

commit to any one bit. Right. So there is a black comedy in here. There is a, very explicit voiceover theme about America and what it takes to succeed in America, what it takes to succeed in the world and capitalism and playing by the rules versus not playing by the rules that I think you could kind of like

charitably suggest is kind of like Wolf of Wall Street or kind of like, you know, a bunch of movies where there's like that VO is happening and you're like, oh yeah, but this is what this movie is actually about. And then like you said with the SNL thing, there's like a crime movie underneath where it's sort of about the Russian mob and witness protection and all this other stuff.

And I do get the feeling like this was a movie where they had a certain amount of days with the performers that were in the movie. And those performances are not always calibrated to lock together. Like, Chris Messina shows up in this movie and is doing... Sure does. I haven't seen Chris Messina in a minute, to be honest. Like, I don't know what he's been up to. But he is in a different movie, I think, than Rosman Pike. you know, especially his outfits, which are these like elaborate sort of like Miami Vice

versions of Hal Holbrook doing Mark Twain. Yeah. I read a smart review. I believe the director is British and he set the, um, this satire in America. And it is like a really heightened satire of America to the point that Christmasina is wearing every piece of jewelry that his character could possibly be wearing plus five more. Yes. Yeah.

They all seem to be in different movies. I think you're smart that there was a limited amount of time. And so they were just kind of, you know, movies aren't always filmed in order. People don't always meet everybody else. You don't really have a sense of what's going on. And with something that really does need such a specific tonal balance to work, it can be hard to get everybody on the same page. But I was confused.

Yeah. So why don't we go through a couple more exit survey questions here? I guess I'll ask you, what was your favorite and then what was your least favorite part of the movie? Well, I guess I liked what Rosamine Pike was on screen. And I thought that what she was doing, especially in the court scenes, was kind of the most congruous where what she's doing and what the movie thinks it's doing and what the set design and everything all adds up. And she's playing a certain type of character. And I understand what they have to say about this system and the ways that it can be exploited. So I liked her. And again, I always like to see her. though like would it kill someone to give her another role like an education where she gets to have some fun? I just let's let's consider it. Um, my least favorite part of the movie, you know, there's about a 30 to 45 minutes stretch there. It's like the last third of the movie or right before the end where Rosam Pike is just trying to evade death in various ways.

And the score is just pounding so loudly in, There's like a half hour montage. Right. And it's just there's no words and no real motivation. And the score is, I think, supposed to supply all of the emotion. And I'm a big music fan. Love music. Thanks to all the musicians.

It's a lot. And I was just kind of like, okay, we've reached the end of the experiment here, but I'm still watching this movie. The worst thing that ever happened in the history of cinema is somebody introduced the idea of walking in slow-mo while a song is playing. Because I feel like that is now the most overused visual trope in movies. And they use that a bunch of times in this movie. I feel like it is like the reservoir dogs walking scene. There's probably dozens of Scorsese times.

And now it's just become like it's in every Seth Rogen movie. And I'm like, I got it. Like people are walking into a room. Right. While a song is playing. It's like in their defense. I would love to do that once in my life. You know,

it is the thing you see in a movie that you can kind of export to your own life and do. So I get it, but also I've had enough. I say my favorite part of the movie was the 10 or 15 minutes where I was like, they're really going to make a movie out of somebody who is an elder abuser. Like, they're just that when I thought that the movie was going to be limited to Rosamond Pike's draining of people's bank accounts as she brings them into their retirement care, the care facility, I thought I was like, this is really brave. I don't know how this is a popular film. I don't know, you know, what we're supposed to glean from this. But I was open to it.

And then when it becomes like a Russian mafia and she becomes like a super assassin at the end of the movie, I was just kind of like, I don't know, nothing about the first two-thirds of this movie suggested that the last third of this movie would happen. Correct. We're on the same page. Did you read anything about the tooth in the milk when you said super assassin? I didn't. I didn't.

So I did, you know, we live in a world where there's a content economy around like blogging about the tooth in the milk. But apparently if you do lose a tooth, you can put it in milk. And it's a little bit of kind of like an urban myth, but you can preserve the tooth in the milk until you can have it re-reattached. That sounds a lot like you can put your soaking wet iPhone in a bag of rice. I think it is from like the same vein of help. But anyway, like to go from this is a movie about elder abuse to just so you know, you can put your tooth in some milk is that's, that's the experience of this movie in a nutshell. Yeah.

Next question is how is this the number one movie on Netflix? What are we doing? What's up, society? I think it's fascinating because I wouldn't have expected, you know, it's an original. It's not franchise. Rosamine Pike was in Gone Girl, which was very successful, and I like her a lot. But I wouldn't say that she's like the number one thumbnail draw. Our pal, Andrew Grudadero, had a theory that it's just the bob cut, like, and her actual

styling that in the thumbnail made it look, you know, and it does, like I said, this, this movie borrows a lot from Instagram aesthetic and is aware of kind of, you know, what people look like online and what you want to click on. So maybe that did actually just work. I think it's pretty good theory. Yeah. I mean, at this point, I really do feel like if something is snappy and new and it's on Netflix, it's at least going to get a run. And I, you know, there are some things like where you see it and you're like, oh, I wonder why that didn't take off on Netflix. But like, like for the most part, I just feel like this was something that had like a catchy trailer that probably engaged people enough to at least start it.

I think also, I don't really think that this matters that much, but it was well reviewed. I think you and I are in the minority of being like, what did we just, what happened here? Yes. And I do also want to say, listen, I led with this movie doesn't work for me and it didn't. But this is the type of movie where there, like, enough is working or enough choices have been made. And clearly someone's put thought into some aspects of this. Oh, I wasn't bored. Yeah. And but like enough is going on here that you then are probably unduly hard on what doesn't work because it's just like, wow, you just, we tried some things that it didn't add up.

So I give them credit for it working and maybe it did work for some other people or they were just willing to click on that thumbnail and go on the ride at least until Peter Digglich shows up. I'd be like, I always wanted to know what to do with my tooth. Yeah, exactly. Also, I mean, it's like 30 minutes, and then Peter Dinklage does show up. And Peter Dinklage, very popular actor. So then perhaps people are like, oh, okay, so I thought it was this bummer movie. And now it's Peter Dinklage in a heist movie.

So I guess I'll just keep watching. Speaking of Dinklage, where are the Russian accents in this movie, if it's the Russian mob? I'm not an expert on the Russian mob. Is it to a person you got to have an accent to be in the community these days? I mean, I think that it's just interesting because like every single one of those guys, even though they're named like Alexi and Roman, don't seem to have any Russian accent. But I thought that was an interesting twist there. Who did you find more like reprehensible or morally like vacant? The Rosamond Pike character or the Dinklage character? I think that's sort of the point is that there is no difference, right? I think that is sort of the point. But for me, it was really easily the Rosman Pike character. So I just, it was like, I at least understood why Peter Dinklage. I'm going to take away your arthritis medication and give you sedatives during the day and uppers during the night. I was like, you're the devil. Right. And it's all legal. And she just gives

a lot of speeches about that. Listen, the Russian mob does kill several people in this film. So we don't endorse that. But no, not on this podcast. Not on this podcast. We're taking a firm stand against killing people, organized crime or not. But they are killing people who are bad people who have been, And it's like, it's, I don't know. I, Rosamine Pike was, was, was the bad person. She's like the best part of this movie and the, the thing that made me the queasiest. Yeah. Maybe that's why.

Last question, what's up with the vaping? She just vapes all throughout this film. I honestly don't know. I recently read the Mike Nichols biography, which I really recommend by Mark Harris. And he talks about how one of Mike Nichols's innovations was like giving actors something to do always, that actors look more natural and like themselves, you know, which is not like a huge insight, but I think it was when Mike Nichols did it. And so I wondered whether she just needed something to do all of the time. Like, I don't know. It's definitely effective when she's talking

to Messina and she's just got billows of smoke coming out of her. I do also wonder whether it was like part of the, you know, Instagram, TikTok, like nod towards cool things, but also we're making fun of them, but are we? Because that's also how we're selling the movie. right right no that's a good point well Amanda I think we've gotten to the bottom of this this was not a movie that we loved but it is a movie that we are intrigued by yes and I'm fascinated I'm sure we'll get some feedback from people who are like I actually fucking love this movie so shout to you I look forward to your your comments Amanda thank you so much for joining me today Chris thank you