By Robert Scucci
| Published
While I’m the first person to admit that I’m not a fan of Jim Gaffigan’s brand of family-friendly stand-up comedy, I have to come clean and say that he absolutely floored me with his performance in 2022’s Linoleum, currently streaming on Hulu. Playing a dual role in the sci-fi comedy drama, both of Gaffigan’s on-screen personas command the audience in ways that point to his signature quirky countenance before revealing the deep inner workings of both character’s minds in ways that totally caught me off guard. Operating in what appears to be an alternate universe before you really know what’s going on, Linoleum will lift your spirits into the stratosphere before crushing them into a fine powder when everything hits the ground during its third act.
A Midlife Crisis Worth Witnessing
Linoleum centers on Jim Gaffigan’s Cameron Edwin, the host of a public access children’s science show called Above & Beyond that doesn’t quite pull the necessary ratings to air outside of its midnight timeslot. When he’s asked to resign from the show he created in his garage so the network could replace him with the more charismatic and camera-friendly Kent Armstrong (also Jim Gaffigan), Cameron’s spirits are shattered because he was certain that his show would be the next big thing if he was only given a chance with the coveted Saturday morning airtime. It’s also revealed that Cameron and his wife, Erin (Rhea Seahorn), are in the middle of finalizing their divorce because their marriage has stagnated.
Cameron starts to witness strange occurrences in his life that are either the first signs of a psychotic break, or the universe playing tricks on him in Linoleum – like cars falling out of the sky that nobody besides him witnesses. One thing that everybody does witness, however, is the rocket that crash lands in his backyard, but only before the expected government agencies get involved in the form of condemning his house, forcing him to leave his home.
When Life Gives You Lemons, Build A Damn Rocket
With his tenure on Above and Beyond coming to an end, his wife getting ready to leave him, and his father Mac’s (Roger Hendricks Simon) dementia hitting critical mass as he lives out what’s assumed to be his final days before his passing, Cameron decides that he’s going to live out his childhood dream of doing “something fantastic” by rebuilding the rocket in his garage and using it to become an astronaut.
Meanwhile, Cameron’s daughter, Nora (Katelyn Nacon), forms a relationship with her new neighbor, Marc (Gabriel Rush), who just so happens to be the son of Kent Armstrong, the man who not only stole Cameron’s show from underneath him, but also bears a striking resemblance to him.
Cameron becomes obsessed with fulfilling his life-long dream in Linoleum, and finds a friend in Marc, who secretly helps him build the machine when his father isn’t around. Realizing that his father doesn’t have a lot of time left, Cameron takes him out of hospice care to work on the rocket as well, which helps with his dementia because it’s a mentally stimulating activity that helps him remain lucid for longer stretches of time.
You’ll Need To Watch Linoleum Twice
When the rocket first crashed in Cameron’s backyard, Linoleum immediately reminded me of the alternate timeline that was established in Donnie Darko.
Outside of this similarity, Linoleum does its own thing but will leave you guessing about what’s actually happening in Cameron’s world – a place that becomes exponentially more bizarre – as you get further into the film.
Once you fully realize what’s going on in Linoleum, it’s already too late because you’ll find yourself sobbing like a baby as the credits roll, realizing that you’ve been fed clues the entire time but didn’t know how to apply them to the narrative because you simply don’t know what you don’t know.
One thing I do know, however, is that Linoleum is one of those movies you need to rewatch because its worldbuilding is incredibly dense for its 101-minute runtime. Every single frame, exchange, vision, and piece of dialogue pays off upon its conclusion, and in ways that will punch you in the gut harder than you could ever imagine.
If you’re ready to have your night ruined by a movie that’s equal parts uplifting and devastating, then it comes with high recommendations that you stream Linoleum on Hulu as soon as you get the chance.
