A Haunting Meditation on Memory and Reality, ‘Linoleum’ Defies Expectations

The trailer of the new movie “Linoleum” might have viewers thinking it’s about a nice, schlubby family man going through a midlife crisis, with elements of teenage romance and sci-fi added in not just for contrast and verve, but to court a wider audience. They wouldn’t be wrong exactly, as the movie does appeal to the fan base of entertainments like “Stranger Things” while remaining focused on the foolhardy activities of its main protagonist. Yet by the end, once the meaning of incongruent clues set out throughout the movie become clear, one realizes that it’s about more than middle-aged angst and young love. It’s much more heartbreaking than those subjects tend to be, encompassing love and loss and a touch of science to create a haunting meditation on memory and reality.Jim Gaffigan plays Cameron, father to teenager Nora, husband to no-nonsense Erin, and host of a local TV program for children on science that airs only at midnight. Both he and his wife have advanced science degrees (she works at an air and space museum) and could have achieved so much more in their lives, yet when we meet them, they’re not terribly happy with their lives and on the verge of divorce. It’s Cameron, though, who starts to act in irresponsible ways after he loses his job, and who becomes the subject of weird occurrences. One such is a red Corvette seemingly falling from the sky as he places a letter into a mailbox. Another, which affects his wife and daughter as well, is that an old space rocket falls into their suburban backyard. If the falling objects remind you of the plane engine crashing through a house in the cult classic “Donnie Darko,” then you’re not alone. The work of David Lynch is another reference point for writer/director Colin West, with the movie’s lighting and sound effects mimicking the master director’s surreal techniques during certain key moments. Much credit must go to cinematographer Ed Wu, who varnishes the imagery with a nostalgic glean (the film is ostensibly set in the 1980s) while still allowing select colors to pop and unsettle, like fervent purples and burgundy reds.Cameron’s mid-life crisis manifests when he attempts to turn the damaged rocket into a working one. He even enlists his elderly father, who’s initially in a nursing home, to assist in the repairs, as he used to be an engineer. Cameron also starts hanging out with a new teenage boy in town called Marc, whose father Kent is Cam’s doppelgänger, though less disheveled and more confident and successful. Marc’s relationship with his father is not a good one, and these father-son relationships and intersections figure prominently in the movie’s themes.Marc is also interested in Cam’s daughter Nora, and the romance that blooms between them is tentative yet believably chaste when compared to the many over-sexed movies and shows aimed at teenagers these days. At times, the movie’s wholesomeness clashes with the odder aspects of Marc’s character and his fraught relationship with his father. There’s a particularly abstruse scene in which Kent punishes Marc with a bible and some rope — one that again invokes the work of Mr. Lynch, yet fails to live up to that director’s innate sense for depicting danger and uneasiness.As Cameron, Mr. Gaffigan brings the same appealingly unassuming, slightly grumpy aspect he’s brought to his comedy specials, various roles in films and television, and his “CBS Sunday Morning” segments. Mr. Gaffigan also plays Kent, and while he’s not completely convincing as this more menacing father, it’s only a supporting character. Indeed, lacking the humor he’s known for, these dual performances may be deemed too self-effacing. Nevertheless, Mr. Gaffigan gives it his all and he should be commended.Rhea Seehorn as Erin lends the movie extra gravitas and an identifiable frustration when it comes to her husband and her daughter’s antics. Katelyn Nacon and Gabriel Rush as budding young lovers Nora and Marc are engaging and attractive, even when they discuss how they “don’t fit in” — a now-standard dialogue between teenagers in movies. Tony Shalhoub gives one of his typically adroit performances, albeit a short one, as the nursing home’s resident doctor.Ultimately, it’s the performance by Roger Hendricks Simon as Cameron’s father that viewers may remember most. A longtime theater actor and director, Mr. Simon has run an acting school here in New York since 1978. In “Linoleum,” he needs to sell the movie’s climactic sleight-of-hand, and he does so unflinchingly. Cross-cutting between various narrative strands via three different couples, Mr. West explains more than he has to at the end, and yet Mr. Simon says it all with his face.“Linoleum” addresses cognitive decline, generational trauma, and devastating tragedy, yet it ends almost on a high. When the rocket Cam has re-fashioned takes off, this viewer was reminded of the Smashing Pumpkins’ alternative-rock staple “Rocket” and its surprisingly similar video. It would have made for a perfect song to play over the credits, yet as it stands, the movie leaves one unexpectedly moved and even, despite its serious subjects, inspired.

A Haunting Meditation on Memory and Reality, ‘Linoleum’ Defies Expectations

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