Linoleum Review: Gaffigan Is Excellent In Drama About Unfulfilled Dreams [SXSW]
In writer-director Colin West’s Linoleum, the youthful dreams of Jim Gaffigan’s character are the foundation the film builds itself upon as it blurs the lines between what is real and what is not. Linoleum is ambitious in its efforts and heartbreaking in its character study. While the film doesn’t always soar to its potential, it offers a fascinating, resplendent look at regret and how one can cling to the untapped potential of their youth.
Cameron Edwin (Gaffigan) is going through a midlife crisis. He’s the host of a science show for kids, but he’s getting the boot after Ken Armstrong (also played by Gaffigan), a seemingly more charismatic choice for the position, rolls unexpectedly into town. There’s something about Ken that is decidedly irksome, but Cameron takes notice primarily because they share an uncanny resemblance to each other — and because Ken literally dropped from the sky in his car. Cameron, who wanted to become an astronaut as a kid, never quite lived up to his father’s expectations. But when a satellite crashes into his backyard, Cameron decides to build a rocket to fulfill that dream, even if it goes so far as to further alienate his wife Erin (Rhea Seehorn), whose own dreams left her wanting to achieve something “fantastic,” no matter what they might be.
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Linoleum has all the trappings of an incredible movie. It’s ambitious and strings several meaningful themes that come together quite wonderfully in the end. At the same time, the film does waste precious time lingering on the mysteries of what’s going on and only pays them off at the last moment. It’s emotionally effective, but there could have also been so much
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