STX and Black Bear Pictures Give First Look At J Blakeson's 'I Care A Lot'

This Rosamund Pike thriller will debut at this year's Toronto Film Festival in September, marking a welcome return for director J Blakeson

'I Care A Lot' (CREDIT: STXinternational/Black Bear Pictures)

                      by Jack Linsdell

This morning, STXinternational gave us the "first look" at J Blakeson's thriller I Care A Lot. The Black Bear Pictures-produced flick will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 20th, although word on if (and/or when) the film will be released theatrically remains unclear. If the studio want to release it this year, then we could see a similar release format to that of Orion's Bill & Ted Face The Music. That Keanu Reeves/Alex Winter comedy sequel will recieve a limited theatrical run domestically whilst simultaneously being released on PVOD this September. I imagine I Care A Lot costs far less than Face The Music's $25 million budget, so the studio could still make a decent profit through a wide PVOD debut.

Written and directed by Blakeson, whose track record in thrillers (The Disappearance of Alice Creed and The 5th Wave) is exemplary, I Care A Lot promises to be the sort of star-led, adult-skewing, sophisticated "for adults" flick that has all but become extinct in the current theatrical landscape. Starring a solid cast of recognised character actors including Rosamund Pike, Eiza Gonzalez, Peter Drinklage, Chris Messina and Diane West, this is set to be one of the best films of the year (perhaps somewhat by default) if only on the merit of those involved both sides of the camera.

I Care A Lot follows Marla Grayson (Pike), a highly successful legal guardian with a knack for using the law to her benefit and elderly client's detriment. But her life of luxury (paid for by her client's "money") is threatened after her next seemingly innocent victim turns out to have dangerous secrets, Grayson must use all her cunning and wit to stay alive and above the law. Although a fictional story, Blakeson's script was apparently inspired by several true scams of the same nature that he came across on the news. It's certainly a unique premise, something that will explore an important and underrepresented issue but in a twisty-turny thrilling way. It reminds me of two excellent movies of recent years, Neil Jordan's Greta (both are star-driven thrillers told in an "old school" way) and Tom McCarthy's Win Win (which shares a "stealing from the elderly for their own benefit" plot line). 

Anyway, I've been a big fan of Blakeson for a long while and anticipating his follow up to 2016's The 5th Wave for a long time now. Although that Chloe Grace Moretz-led teen sci-fi flick was A) excellent and B) not a bomb ($109 million on a $40 million budget), the studio didn't see it that way and have scrapped plans for the planned sequel. Blakeson's career caught the brunt of that in a most unfair and unfortunate way - it's not his fault he made a good movie that critics didn't "get" and thus doomed commercially - so it's nice to see him back again.

Anyway, I Care A Lot debuts at the Toronto Film Festival on September 20th. Hopefully we'll get a trailer and release date soon.