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Rose Byrne won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for this film. She most certainly deserves the accolades, I think she’s going to get the Oscar too, but Musical or Comedy? I know the Globes have a history of putting some odd choices in the categories under this classification but Good God! This film has no tunes, oh and it is an absolute soul destroying ordeal that I have no intention of ever watching again and almost wish I hadn’t seen the first time. 

I can see why this movie exists, it gives voice to the experience of lots of parents, especially mothers, and it is built on events that happened to writer/director Mary Bronstein, and it is brilliantly made but it is hard work. It is tricky to put your finger on why some movies can get away with harrowing storylines, and of course this will be different for different people, but it is at least partly down to the levels of catharsis they offer and the moments of levity they give along the way. Hamnet is tough in places but it is also delightful, and while it might tear your heart apart it puts it back together again by the end. The recent movie this most closely compares to is Die My Love, both centre on a mother suffering a breakdown while caring for their child, and I adored that (the fact Jennifer Lawrence is not up against Byrne for the Oscar is a huge oversight). What that film did is keep you on side with the lead character, despite her self destructive behaviour, and remarkably she never lost agency. Rose Byrne’s Linda by contrast is both more frustrating and more a figure of sympathy. 

Linda also does not have any allies. Her husband is a constant source of antagonism and the relationship she builds with a kindly neighbour is not one of real support. This is perhaps realistic but it does not offer any joy and none of it generates any laughs at all. (Apart maybe from the long shot of the remote control hamster, but I don’t think that was intentionally amusing.)

I applaud If I Had Legs I’d Kick You but I don’t think I recommend it. It does announce Bronstein as a key cinematic player and Rose Byrne has never been this good despite some strong performances in previous dramatic roles (including 28 Weeks Later if we are finding ties to other movies in cinemas right now) but I robbed me of any happiness, and not in a good way. 

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Post Script:

Five days later, I have just listened to an interview with Rose Byrne in which she regularly refers to this film as a comedy. She also comments on how UK audience members have picked up on this aspect more than Americans.

Not me.

Really not.

I guess the Globes are off the hook though.