Tag Archives: Josh Safdie

2025 Films, ASAP Rocky, Christian Slater, Comedy, Conan O'Brien, Danielle Macdonald, Dark Comedy, Drama, Independent, Independent Comedy, Independent Drama, Josh Safdie, Mary Bronstein, Rose Byrne

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You-2025

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If I Had Legs I’d Kick You-2025

Director Mary Bronstein

Starring Rose Byrne, Conan O’Brien, Christian Slater

Scott’s Review #1,521

Reviewed February 25, 2026

Grade: A-

Not being a parent myself, nor ever having the desire to be one, I was nonetheless enthralled by the subject of stressed parenting explored in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (2025).

Examining our frazzled lead character, Linda’s, descent into madness after enduring day after day of adult chaos and kid problems, the role is wonderfully played by Rose Byrne.

The actor, though memorable in 2011’s classic Bridesmaids, is usually associated with one-note or throwaway roles throughout her long career.

It’s inspiring to see her finally get her due by playing a complex role with so much chops and receiving an Academy Award for Best Actress in 2025.

With her life crashing down around her, Linda, ironically a psychotherapist, attempts to navigate her child’s mysterious illness amid pressure from her therapist, her absent husband, a missing client, and an increasingly hostile relationship with her own therapist (Conan O’Brien), also a colleague.

After her living room is destroyed by water damage, she is reduced to renting a dingy motel for an extended period, where she encounters hostile motel workers.

Her saving grace is her late-night solitude, when she can peacefully indulge in wine and pot while sitting on the beach, contemplating her life.

Director Mary Bronstein, who also appears as a therapist, cleverly doesn’t show Linda’s daughter or husband for nearly the entire film, revealing them only through their grating voices. They irritate and stress Linda out to no end.

Undoubtedly, Bronstein either wanted to keep the focus on Linda and her daily peril or to leave it uncertain whether they even existed outside Linda’s mind.

The plot mostly involves a medical situation where Linda’s daughter, Delaney, has a pediatric feeding disorder that necessitates nightly supplemental feeding through a tube and participation in a day hospital program.

Her husband, a ship captain, is away, presumably at sea. This leaves Linda to handle everything.

Linda trudges through her days, arguing with a parking attendant and a contractor, while having misunderstandings with her therapist, patients, and a bitchy girl at her motel.

The supporting characters are well cast and add leverage to Linda’s peril by being completely unsympathetic and sour. O’Brien is excellent as the self-absorbed therapist, while Danielle Macdonald is good as a needy patient who ditches her baby.

But the film belongs to Byrne.

From the first scene, she wears a weary look, and her close-up facial expressions speak volumes about her peril. Linda looks washed out and exhausted while things spiral out of control. Nearly dozing off as a patient chatters away, she finally has had enough.

On the other hand, she is constantly on the brink of losing her shit.

Thanks to Byrne, we are treated to fist-pumping scenes where she lets loose on both therapists and the bitchy motel girl, instantly making Linda the only rootable character in the lot.

Still, she’s not exactly likable herself and incessantly makes poor choices. Her irritation with everything grows tiresome until the final sequence, when the film parleys into a message about mental illness.

If I should have found the film depressing, I didn’t.

Sprinkled with macabre humor, the film must have been influenced by the 1970 masterpiece Diary of a Mad Housewife, starring Carrie Snodgrass as a woman emotionally tortured by her selfish family and on the brink of a breakdown.

Bronstein, also the screenwriter, makes Linda the only character the audience should focus on, and all events are told from her perspective, which makes the film a winner.

Never knowing where events are headed, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (2025) is a sheer delight in comedic/dramatic insanity. Though it carries a strong central theme of mental wellness, it also promotes the important message that it’s also okay not to have kids who will ruin your life.

Oscar Nominations: Best Actress-Rose Byrne

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: 1 win-Best Director-Mary Bronstein, Best Lead Performance-Rose Byrne (won)

2025 Films, Abel Ferrara, Comedy, Drama, Emory Cohen, Fran Drescher, Gywneth Paltrow, Josh Safdie, Kevin O'Leary, Odessa A'zion, Sandra Bernhard, Sports, Timothée Chalamet, Tyler Okonma

Marty Supreme-2025

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Marty Supreme-2025

Director Josh Safdie

Starring Timothée Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’Zion

Scott’s Review #1,519

Reviewed February 19, 2026

Grade: A

At a mere thirty years old, Timothée Chalamet has already amassed some terrific film roles in Call Me By Your Name (2017), Wonka (2023), and A Complete Unknown (2024).

Portraying unique and offbeat characters is his sweet spot. 

Playing Marty Mauser in the film Marty Supreme (2025) is his best performance to date. He seamlessly turns a character the audience should dislike into an instant fan favorite who we laugh with, cry with, and root for to overcome life obstacles.

He is a nobody who desperately wants to be a somebody.

While Chalamet leads the charge, he is aided by strong supporting performances from Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A’zion, Kevin O’Leary, and Fran Drescher as characters who weave into Marty’s web of adventures.

Even actors appearing in only a few scenes are flawlessly cast, providing an authentic look at working-class and affluent white Jewish people in New York at the time.  A racial harmony is also set by including a handful of black characters as dear friends of Marty’s.

Set in 1950s New York City, Marty is a young man with a dream of becoming the world’s best table tennis player, despite setbacks and a lack of respect for the sport.

With a needy mother (Drescher), two different on again off again girlfriends who are both married, one a childhood buddy and one twice his age (A’zion and Paltrow), a pathway to a dull career as a shoe salesman, and a tumultuous relationship with a successful businessman (played by Kevin O’Leary), the cards in life are stacked against him.

Yet, Marty consistently manipulates his way to a free trip to London and Tokyo, and several get-rich-quick schemes to get what he wants and to fulfill his lifelong dream.

Acting is only a part of the overall success of Marty Supreme. Thanks to Josh Safdie’s (Good Time, 2017; Uncut Gems, 2019) superior direction, all technical capabilities are flawlessly executed, and an unpredictable story is achieved.

The pacing is quick and organized, leaving never a dull moment in nonstop Marty adventures. Sequences like the search for a lost dog portray perilous moments of danger as the dog becomes a more prominent character than expected.

The editing is superior, making the fast-paced table tennis sequences both thrilling and exhausting. The quick dialogue, whether during phone conversations, in a dusty theater, or in an exquisite hotel room, all add up to a tight package of filmmaking.

Finally, the costumes and art direction more than adequately showcase a period when a few Americans were affluent. At the same time, the rest struggled to make ends meet while pursuing their own version of the American dream.

I’ve been a fan of Safdie since he was an up-and-comer making the independent film Good Time with his brother Benny, and he has since come into his own with the grizzled crime thriller Uncut Gems starring Adam Sandler.

Seeming to enjoy the New York setting in his films, just like director Paul Thomas Anderson prefers sunny California, he is steadily making his films highly recognizable.

Continuing on the theme of good film balance, Safdie incorporates naughty scenes like Marty’s humiliating bare bottom spanking in front of snickering businessmen, and a daring scene where he goes down on an aging film actress (Paltrow) in Central Park.

This ensures some humor is present.

The haves and have-nots support Marty’s journey. Wanting more than the life his depressed mother or shady friends have, Marty aspires to be in the big leagues. He will lie, cheat, or steal from whomever he needs to to achieve this.

And yet, Marty is kindhearted and humorous in his pursuits. He giggles when he can lounge in a lavish hotel and order room service or shmooze among rich theater types at a grandiose party.

Class distinctions are an important part of the character’s motivation for a better life.

Deservedly recognized with many awards-season accolades, Marty Supreme (2025) is an example of a young director coming into his own, with ample resources to make a gem of a film.

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director-Josh Safdie, Best Actor-Timothée Chalamet, Best Original Screenplay, Best Casting, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Editing, Best Costume Design

2019 Films, Adam Sandler, Benny Safdie, Crime Thriller, Idina Menzel, Independent, Independent Thriller, Jake Ryan, John Amos, Josh Safdie, Judd Hirsch, Julia Fox, Kevin Garnett, LaKeith Stanfield, Mike Francesa, Natasha Lyonne, The Weeknd, Thriller, Tilda Swinton

Uncut Gems-2019

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Uncut Gems-2019

Director Ben Safdie, Josh Safdie

Starring Adam Sandler, Idina Menzel

Scott’s Review #1,049

Reviewed August 5, 2020

Grade: A-

The Safdie brothers have quickly emerged as a directing force to be reckoned with, producing two “gems” in only three years.

Co-written by Ronald Bronstein, the final product is jagged, fast-paced, and frighteningly intense.

Uncut Gems (2019) follows up the similarly themed Good Time (2017), giving star Adam Sandler his most significant role yet.

Yes, his performance even rivals the brilliant one in Punch-Drunk Love (2002), leading him to his first Independent Spirit Award win for Best Male Lead.

He was robbed of an Oscar nomination. We can’t have everything.

Playing a loud-mouthed Jew is hardly new territory for the actor. Think of most of his screwball comedies from the 1990s and 2000s before he delved into serious actor territory. In the dreadful Jack and Jill (2011), he played two of them!

But a trip down memory lane is surely not what the actor prefers; instead, he undoubtedly prefers to veer off course to more mature movies for the latter part of his film career. Uncut Gems made money, so let’s hope so.

We meet Howard Ratner (Sandler) following his first-ever colonoscopy, which leaves him anxious and irritable.

On better days, he is needier and a somewhat lovable teddy bear as he carries on an affair with his employee, Julia (Julia Fox), and his estranged wife Dinah (Idina Menzel), who has agreed to a divorce after Passover.

Howard runs KMH, an upscale jewelry store in the Diamond District section of New York City. How he manages to land and carry on with both gorgeous ladies is a mystery, but Dinah is a kept woman, and Julia’s father is in the jewelry industry, thus explaining why Howard is.

There is something particularly charismatic about Howard that draws other characters and the viewers to him.

As revealed at the beginning of the film and the main storyline, Howard has made a deal with Ethiopian Jewish miners in Africa to obtain a valuable black opal and sell it to him at a low price, presumably so that he can make a substantial profit from it in the United States.

It is also quickly established that Howard is a mess, owing $100,000 to his brother-in-law and loan shark. To complicate matters, his shady business associate brings basketball star Kevin Garnett into Howard’s shop.

After spotting the opal, he asks to borrow it for one night with his NBA Championship ring as collateral. This cannot end well, and it doesn’t.

The subsequent activity in Uncut Gems is crude, foul-mouthed, and off-putting to some. I have friends who watched eight or twelve minutes of it and either turned it off or left the theater in a huff.

If you are expecting a comedy rife with potty jokes or other juvenile humor, look elsewhere.

This is the real deal, with a deadly ending that is impossible to imagine. I loved the settings of Manhattan, Long Island, and Mohegan Sun in Connecticut the best.

The Safdie brothers have two major knacks. They can craft tense, edge-of-your-seat crime thrillers like nobody’s business with a pulsating backdrop and a herky-jerky editing style. They can also catapult A-list actors teetering on the verge of being typecast for specific roles into the deep waters of creativity and sink or swim risk.

No better example than Robert Pattinson’s risky turn as a grizzled bank robber in Good Time (2017), shedding his sterile, pretty-boy image that The Twilight (2008-2013) films brought him. This led to his fantastic turn in The Lighthouse (2019).

The soon-to-be household name directing team does not deserve all the credit, though, even though the men serve in a variety of key positions, including acting, editing, shooting, mixing sound, and producing their films.

Sandler has become an interesting and versatile actor as he forges into the drama vein. Happy to roll up his sleeves and do an indie film for little money (like he needs it!), he proves that an unlikeable character can have hints of likability, black humor, and pizzazz.

He completely embodies Howard, making the audience love and hate him. He balances two women, schemes to get rich, and neglects his kid’s school play, yet he is appealing.

Let’s ceremoniously proclaim 2019 as the year that stars previously known for generic films, determined to break out with challenging and fantastic roles, were shunned by the Academy.

Jennifer Lopez, shockingly snubbed for Hustlers (2019), is being punished for years of mediocre films such as Maid in Manhattan (2002) and Monster-in-Law (2005), which join her compadre Sandler in two of the biggest snubs of the decade, with Uncut Gems (2019).

Perhaps an Oscar will be in their future if they stay the course and remain true to the work.

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: 3 wins- Best Feature, Best Male Lead-Adam Sandler (won), Best Director-Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie (won), Best Screenplay, Best Editing (won)

2017 Films, Barkhad Abdi, Benny Safdie, Crime Drama, Drama, Independent, Independent Drama, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Josh Safdie, Robert Pattinson, Taliah Lennice Webster

Good Time-2017

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Good Time-2017

Director Ben Safdie, Joshua Safdie

Starring Robert Pattinson, Ben Safdie

Scott’s Review #767

Reviewed June 5, 2018

Grade: B+

Every so often, an actor who is known for either making mainstream films or portraying a mediocre character risks being typecast.

Fortunately, actor Robert Pattinson, known chiefly as the heartthrob from the trite Twilight films, has been given the best career role. The actor hits the jackpot with a challenging and edgy performance in the fast-paced, independent crime drama Good Time (2017).

The film is a perfect ride, and directors Ben and Joshua Safdie successfully provide excellent tension and compelling action scenes (Ben even gives a worthy supporting performance as a mentally challenged character).

The overall tone of the film is that of an edge-of-your-seat experience.

As enjoyable and taut as the film is, a few minor criticisms must be mentioned below.

Good Time begins with Nick Nikas (Ben Safdie) being quizzed by a therapist. They are quickly interrupted by Nick’s brother Connie (Pattinson), who removes him from the facility so that he can assist with a bank heist.

When the attempt goes awry and Nick is arrested, Connie does his best to spring his brother from jail and then from the hospital following an altercation with another inmate. All the while, Connie must also evade the police as he forms a strange connection with a sixteen-year-old girl, Crystal (Taliah Webster).

The fun part of Good Time is that the film is fast-paced and filled with twists and turns. Taking place largely over the course of one night, we are compelled by Connie’s journey and wonder if he will outrun the cops.

Although it is a standard thriller, Good Time rises slightly above this ranking due to its wonderful New York City setting and numerous exterior scenes—this is a major plus.

The film’s look also garners props. With a slick yet gritty and grainy feel, the camera angles are quick and plentiful. This is a great tool to keep the action going at lightning speed, and the editing deserves kudos, too.

The intensity and tension run rampant throughout.

A good example is the bank robbery scene—as the teller disappears into the vault to get the requested amount of money, she takes what seems like an eternity to return, leaving the audience (and Connie) wondering if she has alerted the authorities.

Otherwise, the film is helped immensely by the acting performance of Pattinson, who owns the film. Having not seen him in anything before, I was surprised at how good he was.

I thought of him as more of a matinee idol than a serious actor, but I was proven wrong. Grizzled and temperamental but a decent guy at times, Pattinson’s Connie is loyal to a fault, putting his brother first and foremost.

Fans of Captain Phillips (2013) will be delighted to see Barkhad Abdi cast in the small yet pivotal role of an amusement park security guard.

Nominated for the Best Supporting Actor award for Captain Phillips, the Somali-American actor has found steady work in film since his acclaimed debut performance. In his role in Good Time, the character is instrumental in kicking off the final act that leads to the downfall of at least one other character.

A few minor but notable flaws (somewhat unnecessary) that Good Time contains are worth mentioning.

Perplexing to me is the casting of Jennifer Jason Leigh as Connie’s girlfriend, Corey. Decades older than Connie, Corey is written pretty much as a nitwit attempting to use her mother’s credit card to bail out Nick.

The film does not mention the age difference or provide much meat to the role—Jason Leigh deserves better than a throwaway role like this.

Otherwise, none of the female characters are treated exceptionally well. Connie frequently directs or shouts at either Corey or even Crystal, eliciting a slightly off-putting “man in charge” vibe.

Also, a gay slur uttered by Connie is thrown into a scene for seemingly no reason, which surprises me in 2017. Still, something makes the audience root for Connie while we still want him to get his punishment.

Good Time (2017) provides quality entertainment in a specified genre with good acting.

With a weird Ocean’s Eleven style (only with one prominent character), the bank robbery theme will satisfy those in the mood for a good heist film.

The film’s title is a mystery (is it irony?), and I’m not sure it works, but overall, it is a perfect watch.

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: Best Director-Safdie Brothers, Best Male Lead-Robert Pattinson, Best Supporting Male-Benny Safdie, Best Supporting Female-Taliah Lennie Webster, Best Editing