Sacramento

by Mike McGranaghan

Sacramento relies on one of the oldest yet most durable cinematic tropes: the road trip that proves healing. You know the drill. Two people, each facing their own personal crisis, hit the road, where they face various complications (comedic or otherwise) that collectively serve to help them figure out whatever their malaise is. There’s not a whole lot original about the film, but it executes the formula pleasantly enough.

Rickey (Michael Angarano) is an irresponsible, high-energy guy trying to deal with his father’s death. He shows up unannounced at the home of estranged best friend Glenn (Michael Cera) and doesn’t exactly receive a warm welcome. Glenn’s wife Rosie (Kristen Stewart) is pregnant with their first child, a situation he clearly has anxiety about. The couple communicate with each other via “therapy speak” that suggests Glenn has a propensity for panic attacks that he’s desperately trying to keep a lid on. Rickey guilt trips his old pal into making an impromptu road trip to the titular city. Ostensibly it’s to spread his dad’s ashes; in reality, the trek is all about former flame Tallie (Maya Erskine).

There’s a very distinct reason why Sacramento works. In a lot of road trip comedies, the characters and their dilemmas don’t seem authentic. They feel like the product of a screenwriter’s imagination. Angarano, who directed and co-wrote, gives Rickey and Glenn problems that you can actually identify with. Death of a loved one, fear of parenthood, and past relationship regret all play a significant role in the story.

That allows the two leads to accentuate the movie’s quirky sense of humor. Angarano and Cera strike up a chemistry similar to that between Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin in A Real Pain. They bicker and argue, often hilariously, without ever losing the sense that these men care about each other deep down. One’s wound too tight, the other has come completely unraveled. Thankfully, the females are not mere stock characters here to support the males. Stewart and Erskine have important functions to the plot, and they invest the women they’re playing with personality.

Sacramento doesn’t reinvent the wheel. It does, however, contain several genuinely funny moments, as well as a few that hit you in a more emotional place. The efforts of an appealing cast make this an indie feature worth seeking out.

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