Review of Linoleum

Are the first words of the movie that the viewer hears as we go into Cameron's mind (ofcourse we don't know we're in his mind). It'll be easy for the average viewer to misunderstand this which will make the story feel like it doesn't make a lot of sense or have a point. The point is, without giving away the point the film makers tell a story from the point of view of a main character who is suffering from Alzheimer/Dementia (it is never made clear) type of mental illness. The mystery lies in how he interprets what his wife has been sharing with him about their past (and we don't even know she's doing this or make sense of it til the end)- sure there are lucid interpretations and then moments were something may not make total sense (again we are in the mind/interpretation of Cameron -the main character who is suffering a mental condition) so we are getting in essence bits and pieces of his past/different time periods and different characters who don't all fit in a cohesive way.

Done similarly, yet different, than A Beautiful Mind, the viewer gets to be in the main characters shoes -to try to piece together the very same thing Cameron's trying to but when you have a brain disease like his nothing is all that straight forward -we learn as he learns. I knew something was up when I noticed that every scene the 'son' was in it was a different boy (but even this is not obvious). Cleverly done, the film makers never give too much away as they build a mystery.

A wonderful, heartfelt love story and somewhat original (yes this is different than the notebook) take and masterfully told so the viewer might not fully understand everything until the end...just like Cameron.