If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (MA)
Directed by: Mary Bronstein
Starring: Rose Byrne, Conan O’Brien
Review by: Julian Wright
Linda’s (Rose Byrne) life is utter chaos at the moment.
She is a full-time therapist, her young daughter is being fed through a tube into her stomach and needs constant medical attention, her husband Charles (Christian Slater) is working out of town, and the ceiling in their apartment has just collapsed forcing them to live in a motel.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Linda is barely keeping it together – she displays the patience of a saint around her demanding child, but at night she retreats with a bottle of wine and a joint to disassociate.
Not even her therapist/colleague (Conan O’Brien) seems equipped to help.
The first thing you might do after watching If I Had Legs…is book a holiday because it feels like you have been on this exhausting rollercoaster blur of life events with Linda.
Director Mary Bronstein keeps the level of hectic consistently high, keeping the viewer on the verge of a a panic attack.
Linda is juggling so many balls in the air, it is just a matter of time until something has to give, right?
It isn’t just that a lot of things are going on in a short period of time, we are feeling how this impacts a person and how they deal (or not deal) with it.
It is all so scarily relatable.
Rose Byrne is astounding, her frustration and desperation always just bubbling under the surface as the fatigue slowly sets in and her eyes get heavier.
Just keeping up the level of energy required to film this is impressive in itself, fortunately she is skilled enough to bring levels of nuance to the performance.
The trippy interludes around the giant hole in the ceiling are a slight detour that cements its arthouse cinema status and are not entirely necessary.
If I Had Legs I’d Kick you is highly recommended viewing.
Not recommended is watching this in a double feature with Die My Love – give the two some breathing room.
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