Being a mother may be one of the most fulfilling roles a person can have in life, but it can also be a thankless job. And the job of motherhood, an endless checklist of unavoidable responsibilities and physical, emotional and life demands, has never seemed more appreciated than in Rose Byrne’s tense yet comical Linda. If I had legs I’d kick you.
When we met, Linda was already hanging on by a thin, frayed thread, having a mild conflict at a conference with her daughter’s doctor. The exact nature of her child’s illness is not clear, but the details, including the girl’s dependence on a feeding tube and its cumbersome appendages, seem distressing enough.
Writer/director Mary Bronstein, who also appears in a small role, keeps the camera focused on Linda, increasing in close-up as the stress of her exhausted mother fills the frame.
The entire film focuses on Linda’s first-hand experience. Her daughter’s voice can be heard but only partially seen. We cannot see her face, so she remains an abstract entity. Precious and innocent, but also a needy and demanding burden to Linda.
The suggestion that Linda is at such rock bottom that she can’t even see her children might lead you to believe that she’s being dramatic or selfish. That is until we walk a mile in her shoes and find out what a hellish burden her life has become.
The film is very effective in drawing us into Linda’s growing crucible of catastrophe, which begins when a flood bursts through the living room ceiling of her Montauk apartment. Linda and her child were forced to relocate to a nearby motel and a room barely large enough to accommodate essential medical equipment.
Due to her duty to constantly monitor her daughter’s vital signs, she still sneaks out at night to smoke a cigarette, take a swig of weed, or sip a glass of wine. To those who are paying attention, she may seem neglectful, but in reality she has nowhere else to feel safe.
Her therapist (a dry and funny Conan O’Brien) seems to have lost all patience with her and simply continues the session. Her husband, Charles, is the girl’s beloved father, is never at home and is always away on business. Throughout the movie, we hear his voice (a very famous Christian Slater) on the phone, but he offers no actual assistance, only asking pointed questions and infuriating criticisms about how she’s coping with everything.
And she’s the one handling everything, a fact he rarely admits. With great comic timing and a charming sense of exasperation, Byrne conveys the crushing burden that falls on Linda’s shoulders as she deals with her daily dealings with contractors, her own workload as a therapist, her daughter’s doctor visits and messy round-the-clock care, her frequent tantrums, a terrible new pet, and the hectic dismissal of school.
Echoing the therapist’s impatience, the school’s overzealous parking warden (Mark Stolzenberg) continually harasses her for parking in the drop-off lane long enough to drive her daughter inside the school. Seriously, no one would give Linda a break?
The shocking lack of empathy for her situation seems to be the point of the film. Linda’s world is falling apart around her through no fault of her own. And yet, on every occasion she met someone not with kindness or generosity, but with a version of the expression: “Young lady, please be strong.”
No one tries to ease her burden or come to her rescue. She should just deal with it and suffer, or she’ll be branded a terrible mother. I’m not grateful. Welcome to 2025.
The supposed angel in disguise appears in the form of James, a neighbor at the motel (which is also Bill’s supermarket), played by rapper A$AP Rocky. Follow Spike Lee’s strong performance Max 2 MinRocky here excels in more complex parts as the only person who truly sees Linda.
James also helps her pull weeds. However, his interest in her is clouded. Is he just being nice, or rather, does he see her as a potential meeting point or a marker of some kind of plan? It’s hard to believe his intentions in this scenario, where both the audience and Linda have come to expect the worst.
Surprisingly, Linda’s situation actually worsens when one of her therapy clients, an unstable mother named Caroline (Danielle MacDonald), disappears, leaving baby Riley in Linda’s care. Seeing other mothers devastated by it all may be just what Linda needs to shake off the constant cycle of self-blame.
Or maybe it’s the final blow that pushes her off the cliff. “It will get better,” Linda insists. All she can do is try.
If I had legs, I would kick them (★★★★☆) is rated R and will be shown in select theaters nationwide. visit fandango.com.
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
