Sacramento: Very Few Sharp Turns on The Way to This Movie’s Destination

By Chris Knight

Rating: B

It’s very difficult to hate Sacramento. But I dare you to love it.

I’m talking about the movie, not the California state capital, which I’m sure is lovely. Sacramento is a well-made, well-acted comedy drama that does just about everything right and almost nothing unexpected.

It stars (and was co-written and directed by) Michael Angarano, playing an unreliable, unfocused layabout named Rickey. In the opening scene, he meets Tallie (Maya Erskine), and they seem to be hitting it off nicely.

However, scene two shifts the focus to Glenn and Rosie (Michael Cera, Kristen Stewart), living in Los Angeles and expecting their first child any month now. Cera, who got his start playing child-men in the likes of Superbad and Juno, has at age 36 settled into playing man-children and is no doubt looking forward to one day playing senile delinquents.

Read our interview with Michael Angarano and Michael Cera

Glenn in a mess, perpetually on the edge of a panic attack or nervous breakdown. Rosie, calm, cool and collected, is clearly going to be a good mother because she’s already performing that role for her husband. Why they’re together is a mystery the film never answers.

Things get weird when Rickey shows up outside Glenn and Rosie’s door. They haven’t seen Glenn’s old friend in a year. He tells Glenn that his father just died (a lie) and that he’s heading to Sacramento (a lie) where the old man was born (a lie) to scatter his ashes (a lie). Glenn, on the advice of Rosie, agrees to go with him. Heck, it’s only six or so hours away by car (true).

Glenn is holding information back from Rickey as well. Among other things, he doesn’t want his friend to know his wife is pregnant. In fact, he can barely handle the news himself. But he keeps that revelation close to his chest as they hop in an old convertible and motor up the coast, much of their journey backed by the modern easy listening of a California band called Sylvie.

They meet a couple of cool women (Man Karram and A.J. Mendez) in a bar and get a little flirty. Rickey goes looking for an old friend. The two men come to blows more than once. Rickey tries to come to terms with a failed relationship. And Glenn tries to come to terms with his successful one, and its nascent newborn.

My only complaint with the film is that it has a tendency to mistake extreme emotional moments with meaningful ones. And that it criminally underutilizes Stewart. And that Cera’s mental issues, while bordering on the psychotic, are never treated as anything more than a quirky character flaw.

OK, so a few complaints. On the flip side, the soundtrack alone is worth the price of admission, and all the actors are excellent. Anagarano has only directed one other film, the seems-similar-from-the-trailer 2017 film Avenues, but he’s capable of delivering a well-constructed story.

I just wish that story had about 15 per cent more oomph. It’s like heading from L.A. to Sacramento and only getting as far as (checks Google Maps) Grizzly Hollow. Trust me, that’s not all the way.

Sacramento. Directed by Michael Angarano. Starring Michael Angarano, Michael Cera, and Kristen Stewart. In theatres April 11.