When we think of Jim Gaffigan and his standup career, we primarily think of food. It’s kind of his stand-up shtick. And most of it is comic gold. From mocking McDonald’s and its stigmas to Cinnabon’s “eight pounds of cake,” and the legendary Hot Pocket bit. Gaffigan made his jump from the stand-up stage to the big screen long ago, but the upcoming Linoleum will be the comic/actor’s first swing at science fiction/fantasy. Looks at the trailer give the movie some displaced consciousness, Stranger Than Fiction vibes.

Gaffigan’s acting career has been trending steadily upward over the years, but this role could be his breakout. He’s yet to find that Truman Show or Punch Drunk Love film that officially cements him as something more than just the funny guy. Linoleum premiered at SXSW Festival in 2022, and has been in limbo ever since, but not going unnoticed with its rave reviews and 95 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes. These factors coming together could make Linoleum the best kept secret of 2022 Hollywood. Here’s everything we know about Linoleum.

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Linoleum: The Plot

Cameron Edwin, played by Gaffigan, is a brilliant but unfulfilled scientist who is relegated to a low rent Bill Nye-type role by show by day, and coming home to an unimpressed family by night. Then things suddenly start falling from the sky. At first, it’s a sleek vintage Corvette with his doppelgänger behind the wheel.

The next object to crash to earth is wreckage of a Russian rocket, this time landing in his own backyard. Edwin takes this strange circumstance as a sign to pursue his one dream: going to outer space. As his life continues to crumble around him professionally and personally, Edwin finds solace in rebuilding the craft to flyable status.

Here’s the official synopsis for Linoleum.

It’s a unique and quirky story seemingly tailor-made for the unique and quirky Gaffigan to show off his talents beyond the stand-up stage.

Cameron Edwin (Jim Gaffigan), the host of a failing children’s science TV show called “Above & Beyond”, has always had aspirations of being an astronaut. After a mysterious space-race era satellite coincidentally falls from space and lands in his backyard, his midlife crisis manifests in a plan to rebuild the machine into his dream rocket. As his relationship with his wife (Rhea Seehorn) and daughter (Katelyn Nacon) start to strain, surreal events begin unfolding around him – a doppelgänger moving into the house next door, a car falling from the sky, and an unusual teenage boy forging a friendship with him. He slowly starts to piece these events together to ultimately reveal that there’s more to his life story than he once thought.

Linoleum: The Cast & Crew

     Shout! Studios

With Gaffigan starring as the aforementioned Edwin, the old story of the midlife crisis, stuck-in-a-rut character who is slowly letting their potential will get a unique take with the oddity that is Linoleum’s story. He spoke with Desert Sun about the film.

There is an extensive surrounding cast of in all aspects of Edwin’s life. Edwin’s emotionally straying wife Erin is portrayed by Rhea Seehorn (Better Call Saul), with Katelyn Nacon (The Walking Dead) as his equally dismayed daughter Nora. Rounding out the cast are Tony Shalhoub (Monk, Cars) as Dr Alvin, Michael Ian Black (Reno 911!, This is 40) as Tony, Gabriel Rush as Marc, and Amy Hargreaves as Linda.

“I’ve been very lucky in my career. I’ve had really nice moments of success, but there are moments where you feel like the wheels are coming off of what you want to do. I wanted to portray that as certain passivity. There is something about when things are going right that you feel like you’re in charge, and when things aren’t, you feel the world is happening to you.”

Linoleum is written and directed by Colin West, who has made most of his name on short films up until his full-length 2021 feature debut of the supernatural horror thriller Double Walker, spoke to Pop Matters about the movie.

Objects falling from the heavens and exact doubles moving into the neighborhood is certainly an interesting framework for a love story, further adding to the eccentric tone of the Linoleum.

“When you distill it down there’s this sci-fi sprinkle to it and these fantastical elements. A car falls from the sky in the first two minutes of the film, but when you distill it down, it’s a love story between two people over the course of their lives.

This idea of an intergenerational love story at its core was what we’d always come back to emotionally, and that’s what grounded the story in the relationship between these two people. The fantastic and sci-fi side is a fun sandbox to play in, but the important thing is the emotion.”

Release Date

As mentioned, Linoleum premiered nearly a year ago, wowing audiences at the SXSW Festival and establishing itself as a critical darling of 2022. Its original release date at South by Southwest was March 12, 2022, and it will be premiering in select theaters on February 24.

With its intriguing leading man and story, near universal praise and promise of an emotional feel good time at the movies, Linoleum is shaping up to be a must-see film of 2023.