In a small, suburban town in Ohio called Fairview Heights, mediocre astronomer Cameron Edwin is really trying to keep it together. The odds seem to be stacked against him, though. His teenage daughter has started calling him by his first name, his wife wants a divorce, his unsuccessful kids tv show is stuck in a midnight slot, and his younger, better looking doppelganger quite literally just fell from the sky. If he wasn’t already having a mid-life crisis, he certainly is about to go through one.
Linoleum has a stacked cast of comedians, with Jim Gaffigan featured as both Cameron Edwin and his doppelganger Kent Armstrong, and Rhea Seehorn as his exasperated wife Erin. Michael Ian Black makes a welcome appearance as Cam’s producer. Linoleum toes the line between comedy, sci-fi, and a family drama; while it’s never muddled or confusing, it does end up feeling like more of a family drama, never really having committed to sci-fi or comedy. If you’re expecting laugh-out-loud comedy from any of this cast, you might have to settle for a few chuckles.
Rhea Seehorn is brilliant as Erin. As she also tries to figure out the next step in her life, dealing with her husband’s mid-life crisis, two kids, and a job she never really wanted, she portrays the sort of tired resiliency of many suburban Americans. Her performance is believable and heartfelt. Gaffigan’s is great, also. Cameron is depressed in the sort of way where life seems to just float right by him, and he can’t really hold on to it. Gaffigan portrays this specific feeling of emptiness without giving a hollow performance. Katelyn Nacon is excellent as Cam and Erin’s daughter Nora, a stubborn teenager figuring out her place in the world.
Nora is queer, and at first this doesn’t seem like it will be a major plot point. Having queer characters or families without story arcs that completely revolve around their queerness is something that many people have longed to see more of, and maybe it will eventually become so normalized that it won’t even be worth bringing up in a review. However, Nora’s queerness does become an important plot point, but not until more than halfway through the film. She’s made friends with the new kid in town (Gabriel Rush), and his father’s homophobia becomes a force to be reckoned with as their friendship deepens.
Shortly after a car with Cameron’s doppelganger falls from the sky, an old Russian rocket falls on Cameron’s home. It feels a little bit like a nod to Donnie Darko, and there’s the potential for a similar mystery there. Throughout Linoleum, an old woman lurks around Cameron, pushing the film further into mystery territory. As Cameron tries to make something of himself, and do something fantastic with this rocket that landed in his yard, the film pulls away from this mystery and becomes more about Cameron’s relationships and less about how an old rocket ended up shaking up his life.
Linoleum is set in the ’90s, but it never feels too heavy-handed with nostalgia. This is a relief, as there have been plenty of science fiction movies and shows in other genres that have really leaned heavily into 1980s & 1990s nostalgia. While there are VHS tapes and large clunky computers, the decade the film is set in is (thankfully) not treated like a character in Linoleum.
Linoleum is ultimately a beautiful story, with a touching final act. It’s a tale that unfolds slowly but clearly, but lacks the suspense and intrigue needed to make for a truly memorable or original film. While the mystery is solved in a satisfying enough way, it falls a little bit flat, with a familiar plot device (that you might have seen coming) being revealed as the film wraps up. However, the ending still feels sweet, and like a personal story that many people will appreciate and find both poignant and plaintive.
Linoleum makes it’s world premiere at SXSW ’22 March 12, 2022 as part of the Narrative Feature Competition.
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