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Jim Gaffigan is known to most as a talented stand-up comedian with a passionate love of "Hot Pockets", but he has also been making quite a name for himself in the acting game. He added his own name to the popular sitcom sub-genre of comedians playing exaggerated versions of themselves with The Jim Gaffigan Show (2015-2016) and took a more dramatic turn with the Ted Kennedy biopic Chappaquiddick (2017). Gaffigan is also set to enter the wide wonderful world of Walt Disney remakes as Mr. Smee in the upcoming Peter Pan & Wendy (2023). Come later this February, fans of Gaffigan will have the opportunity to see the comedian like never before in an ambitious film that's part comedy, part drama, and part science fiction. Linoleum (2023) is the third feature effort of filmmaker Colin West (Double Walker), and stars Jim Gaffigan as a down-on-his-luck children's television host and scientist named Cameron Edwin.

Cameron's downward spiral continues with his own familial problems with his wife Erin (Rhea Seehorn) and daughter Nora (Katelyn Nacon), but his life takes a turn for the strangest when objects start falling out of the sky within Cameron's suburban neighborhood. One of those objects falls in his backyard with pieces of what appears to be a rocket ship, inspiring Cameron to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming an astronaut and going to space.

With a promising director and a strong cast attached, Linoleum is already looking like a strong independent contender prior to its wide release. That's also because the film already premiered early last year during the 2022 SXSW Festival, and early reactions and reviews have been very positive. To learn more about the film's cast, trailer, release date, and more, here is everything we know about Linoleum.

Related:Jim Gaffigan & Rhea Seehorn Explain Why They Have Such Great Respect for Each Other's Work in 'Linoleum'

Watch the Trailers for Linoleum

The first teaser trailer for Linoleum was released prior to the JF International Youth Competition and doesn't reveal much of the movie's plot. It opens up with Gaffigan's character, Cameron, as he wakes up and goes on a delightful bike ride through the neighborhood. He rides past an elderly woman looking at trees (Elisabeth Henry), a man who looks like a younger version of himself, and a teenage boy (Gabriel Rush) driving a bright red sports car. He finally arrives at his residence to see his wife, Erin, working on some sort of contraption in the garage. When Cameron asks what she's doing, Erin responds with "Something fantastic".

The second trailer, released on Jim Gaffigan's personal YouTube channel, dives much deeper into Cameron's character and the struggles he's been facing. Things get to a weird start right away, as while Cameron is submitting his latest application to NASA, a sports car falls from the sky, containing a younger doppelgänger version of him. That doppelgänger turns out to be a man named Kent Armstrong, who proves to be a thorn in Cameron's side when he replaces our protagonist as the host of a Bill Nye the Science Guy-esque educational children's television show. Couple that with Cameron's strained relationship with his wife and daughter and his dad's (Roger Hendricks Simon) deteriorating health, and things aren't looking great for the once-passionate scientist. That's until parts of a rocket ship also fall from the sky, and the still somewhat skeptical Cameron decides to throw caution to the wind and plan his very own space expedition.

When and Where Is Linoleum Releasing?

Jim Gaffigan and Rhea Seehorn will take off in the indie sci-fi satire of the Winter once Linoleum takes off on Friday, February 24, 2023, in both select theaters and VOD. So whether you'd like to see this mind-bending space adventure on the big screen or from the comfort of your own home, you'll be able to decide how to watch Linoleum when it premieres later this winter. No plans for a streaming release have been announced at this time but that could change once the premiere is upon us.

What Is the Plot of Linoleum?

Per the video description of the second trailer, the official plot synopsis for Linoleum reads as follows:

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.

Related:Jim Gaffigan on ‘Luca’ and Why He Thinks David Lowery’s ‘Peter Pan & Wendy’ Will Be The Best ‘Peter Pan’ Movie

How's the Critical Reception to Linoleum So Far?

linoleum-jim-gaffigan
Image via Shout! Studios

Linoleum has been the subject of some very high praise following its premiere at SXSW, even getting nominated for the festival's Best Narrative Feature Award. Some examples of the critical accolades can be seen in the trailer. Collider's own Ross Bonaime also had incredible praise for the film and proclaimed it as one of the best films of the 2022 SXSW festival, proclaiming Linoleum as "surprising, beautiful, and strange" and giving it an A- rating.

You can read Collider's official review of Linoleum at this link or read on for an excerpt from the article:

Linoleum is an exquisite film that proves West to be a compelling young filmmaker, and will make the viewer certainly want to see more of Gaffigan and Seehorn in these types of roles. With this film about people trying to find what makes them extraordinary, West has made an extraordinary tale of the personal universes we all inhabit, the strange messiness of life, and the beauty of how everything all shakes out in the end.

Related:10 Most Iconic Sci-Fi Movies of the 20th Century, Ranked by Accuracy About the Future

Who Made Linoleum?

Rhea Seehorn in Linoleum
Image via Brain Scratch Productions & Sub_Sequential Pictures

The mind behind Linoleum is the film's writer and director, Colin West, adding the film as a remarkably strong directorial follow-up to his previous features, So It Was with Us (2012) and Double Walker (2021). Other names attached to the crew include composer Mark Hadley (Into the Dark), cinematographer Ed Wu (Sleight), editor Keara Burton (Survival Skills), production designer Mollie Wartelle (Bullitt County), art director Kaili Corcoran (The Climb), and costume designer July Rose White (86'd). The movie is produced by Brain Scratch Productions and Sub_Sequential Pictures with Blue Fox Entertainment distributing it world-wide and Shout! Studios as the US distributor.

Who's In the Cast of Linoleum?

Comedian Jim Gaffigan is expected to give one of the best performances of his career as the main protagonist Cameron, a down-on-his-luck scientist with bigger goals and aspirations than a silly children's show. His family consists of his critical-yet-optimistic wife Erin played by Better Call Saul (2015-2022) star Rhea Seehorn in an example of perfect casting, and his teenage daughter Nora, played by The Walking Dead (2010-2022) star Katelyn Nacon. Also part of the cast are Gaffigan's The Jim Gaffigan Show co-star Michael Ian Black and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel star Tony Shaloub. Rounding out the cast are Gabriel Rush (Moonrise Kingdom), Amy Hargreaves (Homeland), Roger Hendricks Simon (Love in Kilnerry), Elisabeth Henry (The Sisterhood of Night), and West Duchovny (The Magicians), among others.