At my 60th birthday my son said a few words. It was touching and a little chilling. ‘Dad,’ he said, ‘when you’re old and grey I will be there for you… but as soon as you start dribbling into the sofa, you’re off to a home.’ A bit of a family joke, that. Wasn’t it?
I Care A Lot (Amazon Prime) is a film that makes you wonder about that. The basic premise – a steely, cold hearted professional guardian is in cahoots with local medics to have the elderly and alone (with assets) referred to her so she can fleece them through the courts – resonates with the jokey sentiment above.
But in this wonderful film there are no jokes and little love around the issue of getting old. Yes, it’s creepy, but it is also clever, funny, awful, thoughtful, thrilling, gasp out loud and laugh out loud splendid. The lead characters are played by a super charged Rosamund Pike, back to her Gone Girl best and Peter Dinklage on Game Of Thrones top form and displaying a manic comic timing up with the best.
Pike’s character ‘has no skin in the game’ so remains ‘objective’ in seeking the best for her clients to whom she is legal guardian. But these ‘cherries’ are merely assets to be stripped, entirely legally if not ethically.
And then she chooses Josephine Peterson, a little old lady with money to spare and no family and few friends. What can go wrong? Pretty much everything but is our ‘hero’ thwarted? Is she heck.
The appalling guardian and the equally if not more appalling family of Josephine are perfectly balanced creations. Where a writer-director provides their audience with a lead who is so lacking in warmth and empathy the skill is in having that audience root for them even while abhorring what they are doing. By counterpointing one level of awfulness with another, the director achieves that balance perfectly. You want neither to win, but also to not be the first to lose.
I have no idea if there is even a grain, a scintilla of truth in how the American courts deal with such emergency applications for guardianship for the infirm, the elderly and the incapable. I like to think there are appropriate checks and balances that would stop the most egregious of such exploitative cases happening in real life. But hey, we’re constantly told America is the place where anything is possible, so I easily suspended any disbelief I may have had in the name of enjoying a cracking good movie.
Just don’t let your kids see it….
TanGental 
Sounds intriguing. Will try it
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Do. It’s v good
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It sounds like one to remove from any recommendations to one’s kids!
And I’m sure your son was joking!
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You’ve not met him! And yes, there are some who should not see it.
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It sounds interesting. I’ll check it out!
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You’ll love it
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Well that sounds like fun…. I shall try it 💜
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Do. Most enjoyable
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Super review, Geoff. Thanks for sharing.
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Worth a peek…
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Gotta look for this – sounds amazing. And by the way, Geoff, you are a youngster!
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I’ve worn well!! It’s most enjoyable so long as you don’t live in Nevada apparently (that’s what I was told it was based on)
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Excellent review.
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In American courts it generally depends on the judge. I’m so old that this sounds like a very scary movie to me!
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And I hear it’s based on true stories out of Vegas… surprise!
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Thank gawd I don’t have kids 😉 No wonder the elderly get paranoid! On average a bedroom in a Carehome in NZ is approx $5,500 a month per person. Their assets are ceased by the Government until they depart, the elderly, not the Govt! Any monies gifted 5 years before they enter a “Home” is to be given back to pay for their care if they don’t have enough funds. This is the law currently in NZ. A nightmare paper trail! It is going to be fun when all of us babyboomers are elderly! Do I want to watch the movie? No thanks.
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Actually it turns out to be based on fact which makes N Z seem sensible by comparison… not for the first time. Your regime is much more severe than ours but then our social care sector is pretty terrible right now so maybe we need some kiwi discipline…
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I went on a bit of a rant. Not sure any social care sector is ever good enough. Even more of a concern is the young as our statistics in child health welfare is appalling. We have a niece heading towards being a lawyer so perhaps her generation can sort our world out. That’s another story.
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I wish… the young deserve better from us, really. Ah welfare… yes there is another issue. As long as we keep poking a stick in the heap, some light might get shown
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Yes, they do deserve better. Here’s to creating more light 🌼
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Re: “I have no idea if there is even a grain, a scintilla of truth”
Unfortunately the premise at the outset seems based on a true story in a different state where the guardian leased billboards to local politicians, judges, D.A.’s running for election, and they bent rules to his favor. Ie. The first offense of misappropriated client funds would be a misdemeanor, the rest a felony. But the D.A. never prosecuted the first offense, so a catch22!
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/09/how-the-elderly-lose-their-rights
https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/jared-e-shafer-guardian/las-vegas-nevada-89120/jared-e-shafer-guardian-alan-d-freer-patience-bristol-jared-shafers-rip-off-cruelty-kill-799847
https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/courts/ex-nevada-guardian-to-serve-up-to-40-years-behind-bars-1565690/
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Thanks so much Peter. I sort of hoped this wouldn’t have any reality but hey sadly it could happen anywhere I fear.
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A good review, but the Lawyer’s speech is more entertaining
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He thought so too…
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🙂
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Hi Geoff we finally got round to watching this last night! Thoroughly enjoyed it, blackest of black comedy! Though a very scary truth of possibly running through it. I thought the ending was the best…just deserts. 💜💜
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