Woodford on Film

9.5/10

When I went into this film, I wasn’t expecting to see one of the darkest fiction films I have seen in a while. If I had Legs, tells the story of a mother whose life is both literally and figuratively falling apart as she struggles her job as a psychologist, taking care of her daughter with medical needs, and navigating a ceiling collapse in her house with virtually no support. This film stands out to me as an incredibly complex character study, which doesn’t excuse the actions of the main character but also invites you as a viewer to investigate when and why you cease to understand her actions. 

 Almost the entire film is shot through incredibly tight close-ups. It’s uncomfortable, claustrophobic, especially when paired with an incredibly jarring score. This film is a nearly two hour long panic attack as Bronstein constricts space, overlaps dialogue, and shows you every worry and fear on the main character’s face. The entire film you are hoping for a break, for a respite from the neverending trainwreck, but it doesn’t let up. While there are some more darkly comedic bits in the first act of the film, these don’t provide a sense of relief as they are shot in the same incredibly tight close up framing.

 There are also some incredibly cool things happening with lighting in this film. Linda’s life outside of the office is mostly darkly lit, while her office is brightly lit to the point of being sterile. I feel like this is a commentary on the deep conflict between her personal life (which is falling apart and where her own daughter struggles with an eating disorder) and her professional life where she has to be dedicated to helping other people. 

 Bronstein also makes the interesting choice not to show Linda’s child for most of the film, instead showing close ups of her hands or feet while her dialogue is ADR’ed over the scene. This fits into the film’s larger commentary on motherhood, as the focus is turned completely from the child to the mother. What makes this film such an interesting character study is the way in which it shows you the escalation of events that would lead a mother to the extremes. It asks us to consider when we consider Linda, or the other mother in the film Caroline, to have crossed the line from neglectful or neurotic behavior to doing something unforgivable. It also portrays this with empathy, as guilt and blame are constantly discussed amid an overarching plot of how mothers are abandoned in society. Linda constantly begs for someone to help her, to tell her what to do, but nobody does. 

 There are some moments in this film that are incredibly gruesome. While I wouldn’t really classify  it as a traditional horror (it’s more in line with panicked films like Uncut Gems), there were a few moments where I couldn’t look at the screen anymore. The film uses these sparingly though, and as an audience you almost anticipate these events as they are foreshadowed quite before they occur.

 Rose Bryne’s performance in this film is genuinely incredible. There’s no real way to describe what she does, but she gives her whole self to this performance and brings a lot of nuance to the character. The side performances in this film were also well done. Conan O’Brien, while having a few comedic lines, gives a performance that goes against his persona as a funny and charming guy. You hate him most times he is on screen, as you do with most men in this film. Kid Cudi brings a lot to the film in the small amount of lines he has, his comedic timing is great and he provides a bit of a break from the incredibly emotionally intense of the rest of the film.

 If I had legs, certainly isn’t a film for everyone, however, I think it has incredible value as a story about the ways in which society’s treatment of mothers can create the grounds for neglect and abuse. It’s a harrowing story, but it’s deliberately crafted and avoids feeling like trauma-porn.

Scoring Card

Formal Technique: 8.5/10

Story: 9/10

Dialogue: 9/10

Performances: 10/10

Overall: 9.5/10