Worth: $17.50
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Cast:
Jim Gaffigan, Rhea Seehorn, Katelyn Nacon, Tony Shalhoub, Gabriel Rush, Amy Hargreaves, Roger Hendricks Simon, West Duchovny
Intro:
... appears at first to be one kind of film, a surrealist comedy about middle-age, but turns out to be an earnest dramatic piece about how dreams are realised even if we think they are beyond our reach.
Writer/director Colin West (Double Walker) combines the cinematic DNA of directors such as Michel Gondy, Spike Jonze, and Charlie Kaufman for his mind-bending metaphysical movie Linoleum.
Starring comedian Jim Gaffigan in dual roles, the film slips between twee and profound with nary a tonal jarring to be spotted. Linoleum appears at first to be one kind of film, a surrealist comedy about middle-age, but turns out to be an earnest dramatic piece about how dreams are realised even if we think they are beyond our reach.
Cameron Edwin (Jim Gaffigan) is almost fifty. He once wanted to be an astronaut but instead chose to be an astronomer. Despite scientific accolades in his youth, his life hasn’t been the “fantastic” journey he hoped for. For years, he has been living in suburban Ohio making a science program for kids called ‘Above and Beyond’ (which screens locally in a dead timeslot) and his equally educated and disappointed wife, Erin (Rhea Seehorn) is filing for divorce. His daughter Nora (Katelyn Nacon) is causing trouble at home and in school, and his near silent son Sam (Levi Chapin) seems to just soak in the dysfunctional family drama.
Cameron secretly posts letters of application to join NASA. One morning, he is by the mailbox and a red corvette falls from the sky. Inside is a man, later to be revealed as Kent Armstrong (also Gaffigan), who somehow survives the crash without a scratch. When Cameron relates the events to his family, they decide collectively that he is having a mid-life crisis. Cameron has every reason to be in crisis, not only is he acutely aware that he is a failure without legacy, his father Mac (Roger Hendricks Simon) is suffering from advanced dementia. His father was an award-winning scientist and worked building rockets. All Cameron has to look forward to is ‘Above and Beyond’ moving into the midday slot. That dream is scuttled when the arrogant Kent Armstrong, actual NASA astronaut and someone with an uncanny resemblance to Cameron, takes over his program, which is now slated for syndication at PBS.
When a piece of space junk falls from the sky and lands in Cameron’s backyard, he is forced to evacuate his house and move the family in with his sister-in-law Linda (Amy Hargreaves), who is not backwards in coming forwards about what a wasted life he’s led.
Meanwhile, Nora is back at school, dealing with being an outsider. Unlike the queen bees, led by Darcy (West Duchovny), Nora eschews traditional femininity and is labelled a lesbian. In math class, her teacher conducts a statistical experiment involving birthdays – hers is the 31st of October (Halloween), so too the new student Marc (Gabriel Rush), who she finds herself instantly drawn to. Incidentally (although nothing seems particularly incidental), he is the son of Armstrong and deeply traumatised by his father’s domineering ways.
Is it an accident that Kent Armstrong moves in across the street from Cameron’s house? Is it an accident that the piece of space junk that falls from the sky is actually a module from an Apollo mission (the media claim that it is Russian)? Is it an accident that Marc prefers to spend time with Cameron? Is it just a coincidence that Erin studied aerospace engineering and mathematics at grad school and happens to work at an Air and Space Museum? As Dr Alvin (Tony Shalhoub) tells Cameron, “Perhaps the universe in our head is more real than reality itself.”
Canny viewers will note that Linoleum is more than a quirky science-fiction tale, but even if they spot where it is headed, they are still in for a surprise. When Cameron decides that he will use the space junk to build a rocket and finally go into space, his family is unsupportive. “He’s finally lost it,” declares Linda. The act of doing something fantastic is eventually what brings everyone together (in a manner), because as Cameron’s show proclaimed, “Energy is the only thing that can counter the effects of entropy.”
Colin West uses a bizarre genre tale to tell the story of living and dreams. At first, it seems odd that the film would deviate from Cameron’s story to concentrate on Nora and Marc’s intense friendship, but as the film moves into its third act, every choice West has made becomes clear. Small details, such as Mac playing with a Moebius strip in the nursing home, are clues to what’s happening. The use of re-runs of ‘Above and Beyond’ become especially poignant.
Gaffigan is terrific as both the scraggy bespectacled middle-aged ‘failure’ Cameron and his doppelgänger antagonist Kent Armstrong. Rhea Seehorn gives a graceful performance as a woman who also feels she never reached her potential. However, the breakout star of the piece is Katelyn Nacon, who refuses to be put in a box by anyone. She doesn’t yet know what she wants to do with her life, but she and Marc declare that it will be fantastic.
What makes the film vivid and intriguing is the work of cinematographer Ed Wu and the production design and art direction by Mollie Wartelle and Kaili Corcoran. Not only is Cameron’s house (and Linda’s over the top beach house-inspired interior) magnificently rendered, the retro and DIY design for ‘Above and Beyond’ is perfect.
Ultimately, as Linoleum coheres, the audience sees a touching family and human drama. What could have drowned in its own quirkiness becomes something that is a touchstone about life, dreams, and living. Whenever a challenge comes up, some character will say “It’s not that simple.” “Sometimes things just happen,” says Cameron to Erin and when she replies, “It’s not that simple,” he responds with “I think it might be.” West’s film might lean wholly into the absurd, but in the end, he’s telling the simplest story of all – the story of love and what a true legacy is. The greatest mysteries of the universe can be solved in a backyard.
