Bronstein also wrote the script for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, which stars Rose Byrne as Linda a stressed out mother in a challenging role that again is unexpected compared to Byrne’s previous performances. This is a role designed to bring kudos from critics for Bryne’s acting and a string of awards for the Australian actress. After spending the 1990s in Australian film and TV she transitioned to American films with small roles in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones in 2002.

Linda played by Rose Byrne is a working mother at her wits’ end. When her ceiling literally comes crashing down on her, she is forced to face yet another crisis, staying in a motel with her young daughter while she navigates how to fix the hole in her ceiling, her child’s illness, a missing patient and a parade of people who seem incapable of helping her.

Bronstein takes us along while Linda experiences a slow-motion nervous breakdown and the claustrophobic storyline is brought home by the closeup shooting of Byrne’s face and the camerawork of DoP Christopher Messina. Linda works as a guidance counsellor for the Centre for Psychological Arts and Mom Talk and a parade of strange characters enter her stressed out world. Bronstein combines the genres of comedy and thriller.

But first on the list is her sick child played by Delaney Quinn who do not actually see until the end of the film. There’s James played by A$AP Rocky the rapper who is the superintendent of the motel where Linda moves to while she tries to get the ceiling in her home fixed. There’s Linda’s therapist played by Conan O’Brien and there’s her absent husband who is constantly away on business and only checks in by phone.

This is a film that looks at the condition of the modern woman who is struggling to balance motherhood, career and all the stresses of modern life. One has to ask if maybe there are just too many demands on the woman who tries to have it all but has to wonder if she has taken on too much.

Bronstein has said that the film was based on some of her own personal experiences as some years ago her daughter was very ill and she had to move from New York to San Diego where she ended up staying for months together with her daughter in a kind of hospital hotel that was very small.  She ended up becoming totally stressed out and falling apart during the experience and she decided to write a script based on the experience.

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (USA)
Director: Mary Bronstein
Cast: Rose Byrne, A$AP Rocky, Conan O'Brien, Danielle Macdonald, Ivy Wolk