Recxpectations: If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You

“If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You'“ lets the viewer watch as an overwhelmed mother struggles to singlehandedly take care of her sick daughter, sort out a house disaster that forces them to move into a nearby motel, while also handling her work life as a therapist.

EXPECT: THE FEEL BAD MOVIE OF THE YEAR
”If I Had Legs…” is basically a movie for all of the moms out there; it shows the burdens of motherhood and, more importantly, how there’s no escape from it. The movie lets the audience feel the struggle and, at times, hopelessness of trying to keep everyone happy and everything on the rails. And at nearly two hour long, it’s a tough watch.

EXPECT: AN ACTING EXERCISE
Rose Byrne carries this movie. Her performance will likely be one of the best of the year but I could see it not getting award love because the film is such a tough watch and she doesn’t play the most likable of characters.

EXPECT: THINGS TO GET TRIPPY
The film occasionally veers into dream-like states (or drug induced moments). Honestly, I didn’t quite get those parts.

This film kind of reminded me of a low-budget version of Aronofsky’s “Mother!” The messages of the two films are the same but the feel is similar. It’s not as insane as that film but it’s like if the craziness of “Mother!” was stuck inside of one mother and we watched her rapid decline.

This is another tough one to rank as, like Frankenstein, it’s a film that I admired more than enjoyed. However, I was never bored in this one and I think it did a more impressive job getting its point across. For now, I dropped it in at 13, one spot ahead of “A House of Dynamite”.