At first glance, Linoleum appears to be — and be about — one thing. It has a quirky indie sci-fi vibe à la Safety Not Guaranteed, the type of movie you’d stumble upon in a curated “Hidden Gems” section on your streaming service of choice and end up thanking the algorithm for serving up to you. However, there’s a moment that it shifts from what you think it’s doing into something else entirely, something more challenging and somehow even better. With his second feature, writer-director Colin West has made the type of movie that you want to encourage people to see, not only for how good it is, but so that you have someone to talk about it with, with no danger of spoiling its surprises. (Goddamnit, I’ve already said too much.)
Jim Gaffigan stars as Cameron Edwin, an affable, bespectacled nerd who hosts a local kids science show that’s been languishing in a late-night timeslot far past most children’s bedtimes. He never achieved his dreams of being an astronaut, and he struggles to connect with both his wife, Erin (Rhea Seehorn), and their teenage daughter, Nora (Katelyn Nacon). He’s at a low point when he sees a car crash from the sky with his doppelgänger in the driver’s seat. When a satellite falls into his backyard, it initially seems like another disaster is befalling him. Yet Cameron takes the opportunity to rebuild it, getting closer to his dreams of exploring space and giving him one last chance to make his mark on the world. Meanwhile, Nora forms a friendship with the new kid in town (Gabriel Rush), finally finding kinship with someone at her high school.
Layers exist in Linoleum; it offers thoughtful insights about the worries that your life hasn’t turned out the way you thought it would, while it also engages in something even more profound. The movie resonates more deeply for me at 41 than it likely would have at 21, and it probably would hit even harder at ages 61 and 81. It treats each of its characters — who are all in different stages of life — with empathy. It’s gently funny, just as you’d expect from a movie with Gaffigan ably playing the dual roles of Cameron and the new, improved version of his character, but it doesn’t hesitate to go dark either.
Not everything fully coheres, but that isn’t to say that Linoleum doesn’t work. Its gaps and lingering questions align with its intentions, swelling the film’s emotional impact. (Or was it just my face that was swollen after I audibly sobbed?) It creeps up on you, transforming from something interesting to something truly special during its third act.
Linoleum isn’t just thoughtful in its approach to its themes and ideas, with its attention to detail evident on screen. Ed Wu shoots the movie with care, capturing saturated colors and gorgeous lighting, ensuring that the style is on level with the substance. July Rose White’s costumes provide characterizations and lean into the movie’s retro aesthetic. It’s immediately clear who Cameron is when we glimpse him riding down the suburban road on his bike, pedaling with his chukkas while wearing a tweed jacket with elbow patches.
For all its surprises, this is not a puzzle box of a movie that wants you to solve it. (Despite Google’s search results teasing you with, “People also ask ‘What is the movie Linoleum about?’”) Instead, it’s as intent on the questions as on the answers, devoting as much attention to the journey as the destination. Linoleum is a lovely little film that’s full of big ideas and bigger emotions, defying categorization and feeling like something all its very own.
A-
“Linoleum” is out Friday in limited release.
