Director Mary Bronstein’s “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” opens on an extreme close-up of Rose Byrne’s face. The camera focuses particularly on her eyes, which show a world-weary angst, like she has reached her breaking point many times before. She’s in a hospital room with her daughter, who has been plagued with an illness for some time. The camera stays intensely focused on Byrne’s eyes as her character argues with a medical professional about the best treatment for her daughter.
This opening scene sets the tone for the tense, claustrophobic experience that is “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.”
Byrne stars as Linda, a mother who can’t seem to catch a break in her personal or professional life. Her daughter’s mysterious illness offers no answers or end in sight, her husband is away for work and the ceiling in her apartment has caved in due to water damage. She and her daughter are forced to relocate to a motel while the damage is being repaired.
While there, Linda is challenged on motel rules by girl at the front desk (Ivy Wolk) and flirted with by James (A$AP Rocky), who also works at the motel. But Linda has no time or patience for anyone else in her life. On top of tending to her daughter, Linda is a therapist who currently has a particularly challenging patient (Danielle Macdonald). She spars with her own therapist (Conan O’Brien) and fights with a parking attendant when she drops her daughter off for testing.
Being a parent is something one can only understand when experienced; there’s no movie that can adequately convey the joy or pressure of parenthood. “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” is a daring piece of filmmaking in many ways, but it also flips the script on the perception of motherhood — at least, the narrative told to audiences by movies. This is not about the every day stress that comes with having a child, but about the idea that, for some, motherhood is a road taken but never truly desired. Linda doesn’t always make the best choices as someone in charge of a medically complex child, but the plot doesn’t cast judgement on her.
That said, Bronstein’s movie certainly isn’t for the faint of heart. From those opening moments with Byrne’s intense stare filling the entire screen, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” delivers itself with the propulsion of a studio thriller, rather than a drama examining motherhood. In lesser hands, the movie could have played like an empty exercise in style, but Bronstein’s tense filmmaking does great service in creating the role of a lifetime for Byrne. She has always been a versatile performer, whether it be the legal thriller series “Damages” or hilarious supporting turns in “Bridesmaids” and “Spy.” As a mother coming undone, Byrne gives one of the year’s signature performances and allows the audience to unravel with her. It might cause some discomfort while watching, but it also generates empathy for her character, making it one of the best movies of the year.
“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” opens at The Little Theatre on Friday, Oct. 31. More info and tickets here.
