Jim Gaffigan shines on Cinequest’s opening night

For a guy best known for his stand-up comedy, Jim Gaffigan can get downright dramatic in his film work. And that was definitely the case in “Linoleum,” director Colin West’s sci-fi dramedy that opened Cinequest on Tuesday night in San Jose.

“With acting, the more complex your character is, the more rewarding. That complexity can come in many forms, but usually in flaws or weaknesses and that’s usually funner to play than to play someone who’s put together,” he said in an interview Tuesday. “In reality, we’re all a couple of bad decisions away from being a mess.”

Gaffigan has received high praise from reviewers for his work in the movie in which he plays the host of a children’s science TV show going through a mid-life crisis. And on Tuesday night he got more applause from the audience at the California Theatre as well as Cinequest’s Maverick Spirit Award.

“That’s Mr. Maverick to you,” he joked during an hourlong post-screening conversation with writer-director West and producers Chad Simpson and Chadd Harbold that touched on his stand-up career, relationships between fathers and sons and the all-or-nothing gamble of making an independent movie during a pandemic.

“Linoleum” shot in Kingston, N.Y., for 24 days in October and November 2020, which Gaffigan said was “pre-vaccine, but after the super scary part. We knew we could test.” A big chunk of the movie’s budget went to COVID-19 tests, as the production tested cast and crew 700 times and nobody got sick, producer Chadd Harbold said.

But there still were challenges. Co-star Rhea Seehorn of “Better Call Saul” fame played Gaffigan’s wife in the movie and planned to return home to Los Angeles to spend Halloween with her family. But constantly changing travel restrictions made it wiser for her to stay on the East Coast in case she couldn’t fly back, so she spent the holiday with Gaffigan’s family instead.

“Because of the pandemic, there was this enthusiasm and gratitude to do this opportunity,” Gaffigan said, joking that at the time his family just wanted him out of the house. “It was a pretty fascinating example of ideal communal spirit, but it was also terrifying because if we got shut down, they wouldn’t have finished the movie.”

The Cinequest crowd was certainly glad they did, as it brought the recognizable star to San Jose. Gaffigan, who has been on tour and performed at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga earlier this month, had dinner at the Grill on the Alley on Monday night and was cheered there by a group of diners who saw him as he was departing.

Cinequest co-founder Halfdan Hussey said he considered this first-ever summer version of Cinequest to be sort of a continuation of both the truncated March 2020 show and more recent virtual versions. The festival, which runs through Aug. 24 in downtown San Jose and continues Aug. 25-29 at the Pruneyard Cinemas in Campbell, has added an outdoor beer and wine garden open to both ticketholders and the general public. (Get the movie schedule and ticket information at www.cinequest.org).

For a guy best known for his stand-up comedy, Jim Gaffigan can get downright dramatic in his film work. And that was definitely the case in “Linoleum,” director Colin West’s sci-fi dramedy that opened Cinequest on Tuesday night in San Jose.

“With acting, the more complex your character is, the more rewarding. That complexity can come in many forms, but usually in flaws or weaknesses and that’s usually funner to play than to play someone who’s put together,” he said in an interview Tuesday. “In reality, we’re all a couple of bad decisions away from being a mess.”

Gaffigan has received high praise from reviewers for his work in the movie in which he plays the host of a children’s science TV show going through a mid-life crisis. And on Tuesday night he got more applause from the audience at the California Theatre as well as Cinequest’s Maverick Spirit Award.

“That’s Mr. Maverick to you,” he joked during an hourlong post-screening conversation with writer-director West and producers Chad Simpson and Chadd Harbold that touched on his stand-up career, relationships between fathers and sons and the all-or-nothing gamble of making an independent movie during a pandemic.

“Linoleum” shot in Kingston, N.Y., for 24 days in October and November 2020, which Gaffigan said was “pre-vaccine, but after the super scary part. We knew we could test.” A big chunk of the movie’s budget went to COVID-19 tests, as the production tested cast and crew 700 times and nobody got sick, producer Chadd Harbold said.

But there still were challenges. Co-star Rhea Seehorn of “Better Call Saul” fame played Gaffigan’s wife in the movie and planned to return home to Los Angeles to spend Halloween with her family. But constantly changing travel restrictions made it wiser for her to stay on the East Coast in case she couldn’t fly back, so she spent the holiday with Gaffigan’s family instead.

“Because of the pandemic, there was this enthusiasm and gratitude to do this opportunity,” Gaffigan said, joking that at the time his family just wanted him out of the house. “It was a pretty fascinating example of ideal communal spirit, but it was also terrifying because if we got shut down, they wouldn’t have finished the movie.”

The Cinequest crowd was certainly glad they did, as it brought the recognizable star to San Jose. Gaffigan, who has been on tour and performed at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga earlier this month, had dinner at the Grill on the Alley on Monday night and was cheered there by a group of diners who saw him as he was departing.

Cinequest co-founder Halfdan Hussey said he considered this first-ever summer version of Cinequest to be sort of a continuation of both the truncated March 2020 show and more recent virtual versions. The festival, which runs through Aug. 24 in downtown San Jose and continues Aug. 25-29 at the Pruneyard Cinemas in Campbell, has added an outdoor beer and wine garden open to both ticketholders and the general public. (Get the movie schedule and ticket information at www.cinequest.org).