If I Had Legs I'd Kick You
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- 3 min read
Rose Byrne delivers a powerhouse performance as a woman stretched to her limits and far beyond in IF I HAD LEGS I'D KICK YOU. It's the darkest of comedies and the most lethal of dramas wrapped in a relentless fever dream.
This is not a fun night at the movies and Writer/Director Mary Bronstein isn't interested in spoon feeding you a tidy narrative.
Bronstein and Byrne craft a very tough and delicate woman in Linda. She takes no shit off anyone as her life spins ever so slowly out of control.
Her daughter is battling a unnamed medical situation, fed through a tube every night and unable to gain weight.
Bronstein plays Dr. Spring, who's growing frustrated with Linda's seeming inability to commit to mandatory meetings and counseling. Is Linda doing everything she can to help her daughter?
Linda and her daughter arrive home to their apartment one night to discover a massive leak that renders their home unlivable. Their unseen landlord seems very reluctant to commit any real effort to fixing a massive whole in their ceiling.
Linda's sessions with her therapist bounce all over the place. I loved the way these sessions were written, a living breathing peek into the way Linda's mind is working. (or not?)
Her therapist is played by a shockingly good Conan O'Brien in his first big screen role of this magnitude. I am a huge Conan fan for decades and his ability to disappear into the role was a jaw dropper. More evidence that comedians often make the best dramatic actors.
Linda and her daughter end up in a fleabag motel near their home. Linda's daily routine is work followed by setting up all the medical equipment around her daughter and waiting for her to go to sleep.
Some of the choices that Linda makes while her daughter is sleeping in this dump of a property inspire anger and frustration.
A few doors down, a young guest named James (well played by A$AP Rocky, who I loved in "Highest 2 Lowest" last year) is an unassuming positive presence in Linda's orbit. But her orbit is a dangerous place to be.
Linda's husband (Christian Slater) is an unseen presence for most of the film, away (on business?) and wondering why Linda seems to have no focus.
The film is a nearly two hour journey into mental illness.
Bronstein serves up some major surprises throughout with supporting characters that are best discovered on your own.
I loved her structure choices, creating a sense of everyday repetition and trial that slowly drives Linda mad. Her visual choices are just as strong, with everyday moments spinning off into wild, otherworldly moments. It's one of the strongest depictions of mental instability I've seen as Byrne begins to lose her grip.
We never see Linda's husband Charles (Slater) until the final act. His presence explodes the film as his presence tears down the mental house of cards that Linda's built around her.
You never see her daughter's face until the final moment of the film in a powerful closing shot.
The film's sound design team led by Nick Caramela creates an aural assault that slides in and out of the film. From quiet initial intrusions to all out, "Eraserhead" level audio barrages of confusion and panic, we hear the scenes in Linda's brain.
The heart and core of the film is Rose Byrne as Linda. What a performance. She is nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars this Sunday and I think she deserves the win. Byrne breathes a hair trigger into Linda that shocks you over and over again. Watch how anxious she is to please her therapist when he starts telling a story. Her scene at the family support group with Dr. Spring and a group of other Moms is a powerhouse. I didn't connect why she was so angry in that scene until I remembered her self diagnosis to O'Brien's therapist.
This is a superb film packed with great acting.
It's also very difficult to sit through, especially during the final 45 minutes as Linda's mind begins to descend deep into a black hole of despair, her hope vanishing.
This is a movie that will test your limits.
The last movie I saw that dealt with mental illness, psychological drama and maternity on this level was Daron Aronofsky's 2017 film, "Mother!" which I detested.
IF I HAD LEGS I'D KICK YOU is a film I have great admiration for, thanks to its rich portrayals of people you can recognize, versus the absurd, self important creatures in Aronofsky's film.
Byrne is brilliant and deserves that Oscar. Period.
The powerful combination of Byrne and Bronstein earn an A.
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