Tag Archives: Rose Byrne

2025 Films, Comedy, Dark Comedy, Drama, Independent, Independent Comedy, Independent Drama, Psychological Drama

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)

2011 Films, Chick Flicks, Comedy, Favorite Film of the Year, Romantic Comedy, Top 250 Films

Bridesmaids-2011

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Bridesmaids-2011

Director Paul Feig

Starring Kristen Wiig

Top 250 Films #216

Scott’s Review #784

Reviewed July 6, 2018

Grade: A

Although raunchy romantic comedies aren’t my favorite genre, and I’m not much of a fan of Judd Apatow (a producer of several films like this), Bridesmaids (2011) is easily the best of its kind.

Influential in a multitude of female empowerment-themed comedies that followed, this one is witty, genuine, and funny because of its star, Kristen Wiig, who also co-wrote the film.

It is one of the best comedies (if not the best) of the decade.

Apatow is known mainly for producing comedy films that mix in the standard potty humor for cheap laughs. He is responsible for This Is 40 (2012) and Trainwreck (2015), both of which I found moderately funny, but they are also needlessly gross-out and tired.

My point is that, minus the talents of Wiig (both in front of and behind the camera), Bridesmaids would likely have been as mediocre as these films. Instead, Bridesmaids is a wonderful, uproarious experience with a star who captures a moment.

My one gnawing gripe is that a woman shouldn’t direct a film about women.

Annie (Wiig) is asked to serve as the maid of honor at her best friend Lillian’s (Maya Rudolph) upcoming wedding. Rather than being thrilled, Annie is depressed due to an ongoing string of bad luck.

Her bakery business fails, she loses her unfulfilling job at a jewelry store, she is dating a jerk (Jon Hamm), and her car is about to die. She has difficult roommates and is on the verge of moving back in with her mother at age thirty-five.

The story hilariously follows Annie’s rivalry with Helen (Rose Byrne), Lillian’s soon-to-be husband’s boss’s controlling wife. Helen is intent on taking over the wedding planning, much to Annie’s chagrin.

The ladies compete to one-up each other throughout the film- Rose is the perfect princess for Annie’s grit and cynicism.

Annie struggles with her issues, unhappy with her love life, when she meets police officer Rhodes (Chris O’Dowd), and they begin a tender friendship. However, their attraction is tested by Annie’s shenanigans.

Annie must then fly to Las Vegas with the other bridesmaids despite being terrified of flying.

Despite the story being nothing new, seen dozens of times before in romantic comedy history (the setups), the film is a laugh-out-loud riot. In addition to Wiig, Rudolph, and Byrne, the rest of the ladies have tremendous chemistry.

Special kudos go to Melissa McCarthy in her fearless role as Megan, a tomboy misfit who somehow ends up in the wedding party. With her “tell it like it is” attitude, the actress sinks her teeth into this fabulous role without crossing the line into ridiculousness.

In rip-roaring fashion, multiple scenes are permanently etched in my mind.

After Annie suggests a Brazilian steak restaurant for lunch, followed by a fitting at a chic dress shop, the girls suffer from food poisoning. This results in torrents of diarrhea scenes and one unlucky character being reduced to going to the bathroom in the middle of the street.

The scene, while super raunchy, is hilarious and fraught with perfect comic timing.

Not to be outdone, the airplane scene is equally tremendous; however, the scene belongs to Wiig rather than the entire ensemble. Forced to fly coach while everyone else gets first class, Annie unwisely accepts a pill from Helen to calm her during the flight.

Instead, Annie becomes belligerent and wild when she mixes the sedative with alcohol.

As good as the supporting cast is, Wiig owns the film from start to finish. Every scene she is in and each line she utters is perfectly timed. Wiig’s improvisation (the scene in the jewelry store) is evident and only adds to the film’s genuine feel.

To Wiig’s credit, she has since chosen more complicated roles to avoid the risk of being typecast. And a sequel was wisely never made- this would have ruined the appeal.

Bridesmaids (2011) is an authentic story rich with hilarity and crisp dialogue. The film is enhanced a being female-centered and written by women (though the direction and producers, too, would have been better).

Thanks to a tremendous cast led by Wiig, the film is blazing with humor and sparked a firestorm of similar “girl power” films (mostly bad) well into the decade.

Oscar Nominations: Best Supporting Actress-Melissa McCarthy, Best Original Screenplay

2006 Films, Drama, Independent, Independent Drama, Independent Thriller, Thriller

The Dead Girl-2006

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The Dead Girl-2006

Director Karen Moncrieff

Starring Brittany Murphy, Toni Collette

Scott’s Review #794

Reviewed July 24, 2018

Grade: A

The Dead Girl (2006) is a unique independent drama with a moody, gloomy underbelly and is quite the downer; however, it is also a masterpiece.

Reminiscent of David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive (2001), the remote and dark setting perfectly counterbalances the traditional image of sunny California as a young woman’s murder is discovered.

Writer and director Karen Moncrieff spins a delicious tale of the mysterious and sinister.

Moncrieff, (a former daytime television actress), wisely carves the film into five chapters- each focusing on a different character.

The clever approach, since at first it seems as if the stories are independent, is that they are all intertwined.

The mystery of who the woman is, why she was killed, and other major questions come into play as the chapters unfold. To twist the drama even further, one of the chapters is revealed to be a complete red herring.

The five chapters are each compelling in their way.

Chapter one focuses on Arden (Toni Collette) and her relationship with her abusive mother, deliciously played by Piper Laurie. Arden has a love interest in Rudy (Giovanni Ribisi), whom she confides in when she discovers the “Dead Girl”.

The film then moves to various other chapters titled “The Sister”, “The Wife”, “The Mother”, and finally “The Dead Girl”, which is told from the perspective of the murder victim as final clues are revealed.

The last chapter is the best and most heartbreaking in my opinion.

The casting is just wonderful, with a myriad of top talents appearing in the film. With low-budget independent films, especially before 2006, finding big stars willing to accept little pay was quite difficult.

Moncrieff, however, scores big with the actors cast in her film.

Mainly an all-female cast, the ensemble includes talents like Collette, Laurie, Mary Beth Hurt, Brittany Murphy, and Marcia Gay Harden. Names like these could fill up a Hollywood marquee, let alone a small indie like The Dead Girl.

Speaking of Murphy, this may be the very best role of her career. Sadly, after this film, she meets her death; she gives a mesmerizing performance in the title role, also known as Krista.

With heavy, gothic-style makeup, her character is vulnerable, having had a difficult childhood and struggling to send an enormous teddy bear to her daughter on her birthday.

Tragically, events do not go as planned for Krista, but what a bravura performance by Murphy.

The overall tone of the film is a great achievement and key to its success. The film is small and does not need explosions, car chases, or police banter to convey its message.

The Dead Girl is a quiet film about struggles, decisions, and wounded characters dealing with the life that they have been given, the best they can.

The mysterious identities of the characters, and the loneliness and lack of identity of some of them, make me think Lynch’s Mulholland Drive at least somewhat inspired Moncrieff.

Not quite as oddball as the former, but more of a downer, The Dead Girl shows elements through unusual characters and a melancholy vibe.

The latter focuses more on a serial killer subject matter.

As a huge proponent of the independent film genre (think modern 1970s films with directors who have a clear vision), I find The Dead Girl an enormous achievement.

Despite a handful of Independent Spirit Award nominations, I still feel the film is under-appreciated and a decade later is largely forgotten, if anyone knew about it, to begin with.

Let’s hope that enough young, aspiring filmmakers were inspired by Moncrieff and what she created with The Dead Girl (2006).

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: Best Feature, Best Director-Karen Moncrieff, Best Supporting Female-Mary Beth Hurt

2007 Films, Action, Horror, Post-apocalyptic, Zombie

28 Weeks Later-2007

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28 Weeks Later-2007

Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

Starring Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner

Scott’s Review #513

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Reviewed November 6, 2016

Grade: B-

At the time of its release, I remember 28 Weeks Later (2007) as a successful follow-up to the original 28 Days Later (2002), a clever play on the title, and as picking up events some seven months after the original.

Watching the film now, however, I see flaws, mostly in the lack of a character-driven story and the resulting traditional action-type film.

Still, the film is far from all bad.

The action begins as the audience meets a “family”, barricaded in a homey residence, attempting to resume normalcy in life by preparing and serving a delicious family dinner- almost reminiscent of Thanksgiving.

The scene is tranquil and rich in familiarity.

When a little boy pounds on the door to be let in, the terror begins, and the Rage virus is proven to be alive and well still.

The story written for 28 Weeks Later has nothing to do with the original and contains none of the original characters. Rather, a father, mother, and a young boy and girl are the family that we follow throughout the film.

Rose Byrne stars as a doctor- laughingly named Scarlet- and Jeremy Renner as a U.S. military presence, NATO having been sent in to keep order as best they can.

The opening sequence is fantastic as peacefulness turns deadly rather quickly, and the characters are in immediate peril.

In another scene, when the father and mother are alone in a laboratory and events go awry, the sequence is gory, shocking, and quite heartfelt.

These are merely moments, however, and are not quite enough to carry the film into a successful sequel.

Another positive to note, even more prevalent than in the original, are the wonderful location shots of London. From the London Eye to Big Ben to street shots of downtown London and the surrounding streets are capably done, and I loved seeing the aerial views of said city.

The conclusion at Wembley Stadium was also great. This was a treat for any London fan and gave the film a clear sense of place.

Conversely, I was not a fan of the characters in 28 Weeks Later.

Whereas, in 28 Days Later, the characters were well-drawn and compelling, rich with beauty and emotion, the same cannot be said for the sequel.

I am unclear what the purpose of Renner’s tough, no-nonsense military type was, or Byrne’s sympathetic, but pointless turn as a scientist/doctor.

Both held little appeal and gave snore-worthy performances. Or perhaps the roles were just not written well. Regardless, neither worked.

The dynamic between the father and mother did work, but the kids were not the best actors, and I found their additions pointless as well.

The last scene, a frenetic trip through a tunnel by the infected and arriving in gorgeous Paris- a shot of the Eiffel Tower as proof- is a nice touch.

With a few nice touches, cool location shots, and intense peril in a few sequences, but with limited compelling characters, 28 Weeks Later (2007) is okay, but hardly an upgrade to the original or even close to a character-driven film.

No follow-up film, while initially planned, was ever completed, at least as of this writing.

2015 Films, Action, Comedy, Screwball Comedy, Spy

Spy-2015

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Spy-2015

Director Paul Feig

Starring Melissa McCarthy

Scott’s Review #386

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Reviewed March 20, 2016

Grade: C+

Spy is a 2015 comedy spy spoof starring funny lady Melissa McCarthy as a loser desk CIA analyst who is suddenly thrown into the field and assigned to rescue a missing agent she is also in love with.

Carrying the film in every way, McCarthy is funny and adds to an otherwise formulaic, by-the-numbers comedy.

Admittedly, the “action-comedy” genre isn’t my favorite, and I have seen much worse than Spy, but the premise is nice; the second half, however, sinks into the ridiculous and is loud and overly long.

McCarthy plays Susan Cooper, a frumpy 40-year-old CIA analyst with a decent job as a CIA analyst (she tracks the field agents’ cameras and warns them of impending peril). Still, the higher-ups deem her dispensable and a loser, and assign her more important duties.

She is single, overweight, and lonely, pining after her sophisticated partner Bradley Fine (Jude Law), a field agent and stylish James Bond-type.

After a mishap leaves Bradley thought dead, Susan goes undercover in France, Rome, and Budapest to solve the case without being noticed.

Spy is a film with a star who completely carries the film.

As a big fan of McCarthy and her performances in whatever she appears in (comedy or drama), I need her charisma and comic timing here.

Spy contains a few laugh-out-loud moments, especially when McCarthy is forced to take on the persona of one loser after another- a divorcee with multiple cats and a wardrobe to cringe over-throw in a 1980s perm, and got a great SNL-type moment.

The film itself reminds me of a long SNL skit. When McCarthy delivers her one-liners, they connect and amuse.

An apparent homage to spy films and James Bond, Spy feels closer to an Austin Powers film, leaning more into silliness, but not quite as over the top.

Still, the European locales add a pleasant Bond-film element. McCarthy as an apparent female James Bond is also cute.

A noticeable negative is the unnecessary two-hour running time.

With a genre of this nature, a ninety- to one-hundred-minute running time is all that is necessary, and any more than that the jokes wane, become redundant, and usually go into the ridiculous.

Another problem with Spy is the supporting characters.

A well-known cast, including Rose Byrne, Allison Janney, Jason Statham, and Bobby Cannavale; each of these actors is cast in cartoon-like, one-note roles.

Cannavale and Byrne play the villains (Sergio and Rayna) in a one-dimensional way, as evil as possible, but they may also be overacting.

This could be the director’s fault, or simply what is accepted in this genre.

Janney, as the tough-as-nails CIA director, and Statham, as the dumb, temperamental field agent, also overplay their roles.

Why are all of these characters loud, unpleasant, insulting, or all of the above?

The answer is that caricatures might allow better comedy than characters, but that is a debate for another time.

On the other hand, Miranda Hart as McCarthy’s sidekick Nancy, a very tall, awkward woman and Susan’s best friend, is great and shares equally in the comic success that McCarthy brings.

Their chemistry is evident, and it would be worth exploring as a second pairing. Unlike the other characters, I felt myself rooting for her and wished her a love interest, though 50 Cent’s romantic introduction was strange.

The plot is more or less trivial and unimportant in a film like this. Rationally, almost nothing that happens would ever occur in real life, but alas, this is the movie, so you have to suspend disbelief big time.

Spy is escapist fare at its most extreme.

A hot mess, if not for the wit and comic timing McCarthy brings, Spy (2015) has an interesting premise but delivers little beyond the silly formula that has existed for decades in film comedy.

I finished the film with mixed emotions.

2014 Films, Comedy, Drama, Kids, Musical, Musical Comedy, Musical Drama, New York City

Annie-2014

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Annie-2014

Director Will Gluck

Starring Quvenzhane Wallis

Scott’s Review #231

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Reviewed March 25, 2015

Grade: D-

The latest remake of the film version of Annie, the last film production in 1982, though at least one television variation exists, and all based on the Broadway hit of the same name, is a saccharine-laden mess of a film.

Annie stars Quvenzhane Wallis, Jamie Foxx, and Cameron Diaz as Annie, William Sparks (changed from Daddy Warbucks), and Miss Hannigan, respectively, and features Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale in supporting roles.

Let me start with the film’s one redeeming quality, though admittedly a bit of a stretch. I found the musical numbers okay, not great, but far from the worst parts of the film.

The numbers are remixed into hip-hop-type songs with a trendy approach, presumably to add a modern element. While not great, some songs are catchy and not dreadful, especially “It’s A Hard Knock Life” over the closing credits.

Whether the actors sing their songs is another question I might not want to answer.

The rest of Annie is terrible.

The casting is poor. Wallis, very believable in Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012), portrays Annie as an intelligent, social-climbing child, and I sensed awkwardness in the part. Regardless, it did not work.

I did not buy her in the role, and how she was awarded a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Musical Comedy speaks volumes about the limited choices in 2014.

Jamie Foxx completely phoned in his performance as Cell-phone technical mogul and mayoral candidate William Sparks.

Why the film changed the character from Daddy Warbucks is a mystery. He is unbelievable as a germaphobe, an aggressive yet sensitive, powerful man who amazingly develops a soft spot for Annie.

Cameron Diaz completely overacts and turns Miss Hannigan into an obnoxious, hysterical shrew who, towards the end of the movie, somehow “turns good,” with no real motivation for doing so.

Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale give uninteresting, one-note performances as Sparks’s assistant, love interest, and right-hand man.

The film changes so many aspects of the original stage version of Annie that it is barely recognizable.

It takes place in present times rather than the Depression-era 1930s; Annie is no longer an orphan but is in foster care.

Miss Hannigan’s first name is changed to Colleen instead of Agatha, and she is now a former pop performer whose career subsequently died.

Hannigan’s brother Rooster and his girlfriend Lily don’t appear at all.

The story has zero interest and zero believability.

But the worst part of the film is its corniness. It is so overwrought with contrived scenes that it is hard to take seriously.

At a Mayoral function, Annie (an untrained singer) suddenly leaps onstage and belts out a perfectly sung, choreographed number melting the hearts of the wealthy powerhouses in attendance.

The film is pure fantasy with no realism to speak of.

Miss Hannigan fosters an apartment full of children that she hates, to collect $150 a week, but her apartment is pretty spacious and beautiful by Manhattan standards.

The film is full of inconsistencies and is a horrendous modern take on a long-loved treasure; the 2014 version of Annie should be seen once, snarled at, and put back on the shelf, then forgotten for good.

2014 Films, Comedy, Screwball Comedy

Neighbors-2014

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Neighbors-2014

Director Nicholas Stoller

Starring Zac Efron, Seth Rogen

Scott’s Review #229

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Reviewed March 15, 2015

Grade: F

By far one of the worst movies I have seen, Neighbors (2014) is a silly, redundant, nonsensical, plain-old bad film. Whoever thought this film was a good idea and green-lit it should be examined.

Successful comedies, even raunchy, slapstick comedy, have perfect comic timing, likable characters the audience roots for, and at least a shred of creativity and originality.

Neighbors has none of these qualities.

Bridesmaids (2011) is a modern raunchy comedy that works and is hysterical; sadly, Neighbors is a far cry from Bridesmaids.

Neighbors stars Seth Rogen, a familiar face in the slapstick comedy genre, and Rose Byrne as Mac and Kelly Radner, a married couple in their thirties with a newborn baby named Stella.

Former college party animals, the two live in a college town and try to raise their daughter.

One day, Delta Psi Beta, a fraternity known as one of the rowdiest frats, moves into the house next door to the Radners and begins causing chaos with their never-ending parties.

Teddy (Zac Efron) leads the frat.

Initially, the Radners and Teddy strike up mutual respect, but a misunderstanding involving the police being called one night ruins their relationship.

The rest of the film focuses on Mac and Kelly’s attempts to get the fraternity out of their house by sabotaging parties and pitting frat brothers against each other, causing hijinks and war between parents and college kids.

If Neighbors is an attempt to harken back to the days of delicious college comedies such as Animal House (1978) or American Pie (1999), the film fails on every level.

It is simply not funny.

By this point, the plot is so unoriginal, and the jokes are so worn out in similar films (bathroom humor, frat jokes, drug jokes, male and female anatomy jokes) that if you have seen one Seth Rogen film, you have seen them all.

He is a one-trick pony and has become what Adam Sandler became- tired and dull.

Rose Byrne’s annoying character made me think she was using a poor Australian accent, only to realize she’s Australian. This is not a testament to Ms. Byrne’s acting ability.

The protagonists are quite irritating and not likable. What is the rooting value? Mac and Kelly are irresponsible parents.

They presumably leave Stella at home to visit the frat house and wind up getting drunk and high, staying out late, and waking up early the next day.

Kelly attempts to feed Stella using tainted breast milk, which leads us to an unfunny scene between Mac and Kelly focusing on Kelly’s vein-popping breasts, which makes no sense anyway.

Other suspensions of disbelief and logic pop up left and right.

Why would the police reveal to the fraternity the names of those who had called to complain about them and, after catching the Radners in a lie, tell them never to call the police again?

How unrealistic.

Mac and Kelly live in a college town, and the risk of a fraternity or sorority being close never occurred to them. They acted surprised that college students existed.

The wonderful Lisa Kudrow is cast in a ridiculous role as the college Dean, but it’s completely wasted on a hysterical, bubble-headed, dumb character.

If I had to give Neighbors (2014) a positive, it would be that Zac Efron does a halfway decent job portraying his character, Teddy, and he does have a good deal of acting talent (think The Paperboy from 2012).

I am being quite generous and looking for a bright side to a train wreck.

The film is poor.