SXSW Review: ‘Linoleum’: Jim Gaffigan Flies High In Dual Roles In Quirky But Slight Family Sci-Fi Dramedy

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Linoleum is certainly something of a curiosity as it strives to use a simple premise to explore, however subtly, themes of loss, identity, and fulfilling a dream of a suburban husband and father who finds a space age satellite drop out of the sky and into his backyard fueling his lost ambition of becoming an astronaut and building a homemade rocket to do just that.It also provides though a chance for comedian Jim Gaffigan, quickly becoming a prince, if not a king, of the indies to play dual roles and show a little more range than he normally has in past films like another previous SXSW entry, Being Frank.

This one had its World Premiere at SXSW tonight in the narrative competition and is like many other films here hopeful for acquisition, most likely a small distributor at best with VOD plans, or even an Amazon which has shown a propensity to this kind of sci-fi hybrid in the past.Gaffigan is Cameron Edwin, your average suburban dad, stuck in nowheresville as host of a local PBS-style science tv show, sort of a very low budget Bill Nye the Science Guy.

Average is the way you might describe this guy, happily married to wife Erin (the always wonderful Rhea Seehorn of Better Call Saul), and father of Nora (Katelyn Nacon).

We are introduced to them right off the bat, but after the mild exposition monumental things are about to happen to Cameron when a space race-era old satellite falls into his lap, well actually his backyard and he sees it as a sign, one that instantly takes him back to his lifelong dream of becoming an astronaut.