If I Had Legs I'd Kick You Review: Commanding Performance by Rose Byrne Allows For Entertaining Watch

Writer/Director Mary Bronstein dips into the indie film game with If I Had Legs I'd Kick You, a tense drama/comedy starring Rose Byrne (Neighbors, Insidious, Bridesmaids).

Synopsis:

With her life crashing down around her, Linda (Byrne) tries to navigate her daughter's mysterious illness, her absent husband, a missing person, and an increasingly hostile relationship with her therapist (Conan O'Brien).

Cast: Rose Byrne, Conan O'Brien, ASAP Rocky, Danielle Macdonald

Release Date:

October 10th (Limited)

October 24th (Worldwide)

Awards Recognition In Sight For Rose Byrne

Credit: A24

There's really no other way to start my review of this film. Rose Byrne is simply the heart and soul of this film in absolutely every way. She's an actress that has always seemed to fly under the radar in this industry. She's done some comedy and some serious roles, but never anything that goes past a simply enjoyable performance. That sentiment changes here, as she gives a genuinely transcendent performance. Although there are supporting cast members who have a sizable role, she is both our protagonist and our antagonist throughout the entire runtime. It becomes a really complex character because of the way Byrne plays out Bronstein's writing. It's initially relatable (everyone can relate to the stresses the universe brings in the year 2025), but then morphs into this insane moral compass that only worked because of the acting job from Byrne.

Bronstein really puts all her chips in with Byrne for this movie. There's many shots that are simply her face for multiple minutes at a time and it brings out one of my favorite parts of her acting in this film: facial expressions. Face acting has become such a unrecognized element of this industry and Byrne using it as a tool for her performance made me as impressed as I possibly could be. Again, you can tell how much faith Bronstein had in Byrne with this role and that faith was definitely well placed. She takes the simple prospect of an unravelling mother and turns it into a deeply memorable performance. Byrne has never received big awards love and I'm really hoping this is her time. It's early in the year and there's many more lead actress performances still under embargo (Buckley, Reinsve, Erivo, Stone, Seyfried... and that's only naming a few), but this feels like it would be a travesty if she wasn't nominated. Without her acting skills this movie would not be what it was and it'll be a performance that really sticks with me for a long time.

Both Hilarious and Wildly Entertaining Direction/Writing from Bronstein

Credit: A24

Although I'll voice some of my concerns later, the bottom line is that If I Had Legs I'd Kick You is simply an entertaining watch. It comes a little under two hours and there wasn't really a moment where I was bored. The film deals with a lot of sensitive material, but plays it out in a way that won't leave you depressed for the entire runtime. That's where the comedy comes in and whenever it does, it's earned. Its not cheap comedy, like making fun of the devastating themes, but more comedic timing that comes with some of the ridiculous situations that Byrne's character finds herself in. Whenever she finds herself at this hotel location, its got the sort of sitcom vibe where there's a cast of side characters and you really never know what they'll get up to together. I came out really appreciating the comedy, but obviously the dramatic aspects are what will probably stick with everyone the most.

All of this is a credit to writer/director Mary Bronstein, who will impress most with her most popular feature film yet. Again, her writing with the comedy and dramatic aspects were mostly perfect. However, I leave really sold on her directing style. I like how the style really evolves throughout the film, reflecting the arc that Byrne's character goes on. We start at the beginning of her life collapsing, so to speak, then as the runtime goes on that shell she puts up just breaks down. We go from a calm directing style to more nuts as her situation worsens, a detail that I really appreciated. Her choice of direction with the daughter in this story will also turn some heads and I thought that was also a very creative detail. You'll see some slight problems I had with her writing later, but I think she did a great job getting a lot out of Byrne and also bringing a distinct style to the big screen with this film.

Supporting Cast Holds Their Weight

Credit: A24

My final positive is that is is most unhinged and fun supporting cast you'll see in a film all year. We start with Conan O'Brien, who plays a therapist with a testy relationship with Byrne. He's only given a handful of scenes in this, but his comedic timing is on point as usual and it's a lot of fun seeing Byrne yell at him while he just contemplates his life choices. I'm not sure I totally understood some of the writing for his character, but I still really enjoyed his performance. This also includes a really shockingly charming performance from rapper-turned-actor ASAP Rocky. Fans of the site will remember my criticism of Rocky's performance in Highest 2 Lowest, but I think this movie sees a real improvement from him. It appears he works much better with some charming and funny dialogue, because I did find myself really liking his character here. There's a scene towards the end where he finds himself in an awkward situation with Byrne, which got the biggest laugh of the night from both me and my theater due to a comical line delivery from him. Lastly, Annie Macdonald brings some solid emotion to her role. It's another really small role, with just a handful of scenes, but I think some of the complicated ideals she brought to the screen were visible because of her performance.

Unsuccessful Attempt To Tackle Complex Storytelling

Credit: A24

Seems like a perfect movie so far right? Unfortunately, not quite. The most important thing about this movie is that it's entertaining, which means I'd recommend it to anyone who asks. However, it doesn't really go any further than just being an interesting watch. Bronstein really tries to go deep into some big themes and none of the narratives really landed for me. The idea of the difficulty of motherhood is at the forefront, but the way they show it is sort of all over the place. It tries to leave you with a big debate about morality relating to the stressful lives of some of our characters, but I don't think it was fully explored well enough. There's also a lot of symbolism, wether right in your face or more hidden, that confused me instead of getting the gears in my head to start turning. I just don't think this movie leaves you with a lot to think about afterwards. Not that a film needs to do that, but this film clearly was trying to and I only leave admiring the lead performance while appreciating that it was overall an entertaining film. I think in general the filmmakers could have gotten a little more out of the story and when that didn't happen, it hampered my final review/thoughts. This isn't a film that'll stick with me much and I think that becomes a big criticism with the final product.

Final Thoughts

If I Had Legs I'd Kick You deserves to be in the conversation for awards season just based on the lead performance alone. Although I did appreciate some of the filmmaking and the supporting cast, I think it ends up stuck as just an entertaining film without anything huge to take away. I'd still absolutely recommend everyone see this when it comes out! Also, this was my first early screening invite ever as a member of the press, so thanks to everyone at A24 for making it happen and thanks to everyone for supporting the site over the years!

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

If I Had Legs I'd Kick You is currently ranked 28th out of the 73 new releases that I've seen this year.

Editor's Note: I've included the top 20 from my 2025 new releases list, for editing purposes.