Nothing can prepare you for the unruly force and energy that actor Rose Byrne brings to If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, a film that aims to shake the viewer and succeeds in doing so. The Australian actor, whom you might remember from Bridesmaids, gives it her all in a full-bodied performance of a woman enduring one panic attack after another as her days merge into nights, and there’s no difference after a point. You have no other choice but to follow her.
Mary Bronstein’s visceral, uncompromising vision demands full attention- it is a portrait of a woman stretched to her limits, forced to maintain her composure even when she knows her life is falling apart. What can she do? Her Linda damages everything she touches.
The premise
The series of unfortunate events begins when the roof of Linda’s apartment collapses, forcing her to rent a roadside motel. Her husband is out of station and is of no help whatsoever, even on call. Her young daughter (Delaney Quinn) needs her attention 24×7, as she won’t eat and must be fed through a tube. She works as a therapist, but the cruel joke that Bornstein plays out here is that Linda is herself in need of immediate therapy. Linda even seeks help from the other therapist practitioner at her company, played assiduously by Conan O’Brien.
But none of it is helping her, and Linda cannot bear to take any advice as her life spirals out of control. She is constantly on the verge, worried that her daughter (who is intelligently kept out of sight) will not meet a medical deadline for an incoming procedure. Rude, unkempt, enraged and bitter all at once, Linda is a hot mess. Some glimmer of kindness is offered by the rookie motel neighbour, James (A$AP Rocky), but Linda does not know what to do with it
Bornstein, working here with cinematographer Christopher Messina, is unforgiving in her depiction of this poor woman. This is a film that wants to put you in the mindspace of this woman. From the very first frame, the viewer is placed up close in a tight shot, as it remains on Byrne’s unvarnished face. From there on, the filmmaker offers no easy shortcuts, no sweet flashbacks, no lazy revelations. She wants you to submit to this difficulty, to test and stretch the viewer’s patience with a woman who has no wish to please.
Rose Byrne deserves all the praise (and the awards)
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is a daring, merciless experiment of a film that might often come across as too intrusive and unforgiving; however, fortunately, Bornstein never lets go of the thread of empathy, even in the most horrific moments. What do we want from Linda? What must she do to get better? We cannot know her completely, and the least we can do is stay, right beside her, even if it is from a distance.
The showdown largely works due to Rose Byrne’s committed performance. She is astonishing to watch as a woman with no moors, lost so completely and heartbreakingly in a patriarchal society that prefers easy answers and nods from mothers. They must take care, they must know the answers, they must smile. They must never leave the kid alone. “Just tell me what to do! Why won’t anyone tell me what to do?” Linda yells. Just the look of blank helplessness in her eyes, the way Linda still sweetly talks with her daughter amid the chase, every moment here is so vital and teeming with life. It is a towering performance in an important film that demands your complete attention.
