Sacramento (2025 | US | 89 minutes | Michael Angarano)
Two formerly close friends, Rickey (Michael Angarano) and Glenn (Michael Cera) embark on a road trip after the former pops in for a visit to the latter. Rickey seems lost in grief after his father’s passing the year before and Glenn has gone off the deep end, swallowed up by fear of his impending role as a father. Rickey manages to get Glenn to head to Sacramento to supposedly carry out his late father’s last wishes, but has more than just scattering remains in mind. Along the way, they find their friendship again but also seem to create a sort of co-dependence that exacerbates their self-centered midlife crises.
As far as look, impression and awkward, sarcastic comedies go, this one should have hit it out of the park. It’s likable and there were definitely some moments that brought a giggle or playful eyeroll. It had a very familiar feel to it and about half-way through the film I realized it was a resurrection of Juno, but fast-forward about 20 years and put the male perspective in crisis as the forefront. The cheeky humor, awkward young love and the main perspective being from the one baring a child is what drew audiences to Juno. The struggles they had to endure, the fear and ultimately the acceptance of responsibility that was thrust upon them. This time, it was from a purely male perspective about breaking down and not know how to deal with becoming adults well into typical adult-hood. Maybe it’s that last part that is what left a bad taste in my mouth.
That’s not to say that it’s not a worthwhile narrative just because it’s from a man’s perspective. These guys were well into their thirties with some big changes happening in their lives; it’s not a unique story but it is definitely an empathetic one. Maybe it was Angarano and Cera’s acting that made each of them seem excessively like a man-child from the start. Obviously there are a ton of people out there that act like children well beyond their time to grow up but these characters seemed to just throw a hissy fit. Meanwhile, two very strong female characters were sort of shunted off to the side until they served a purpose in the story. Both were very two-dimensional, despite having to deal with the same life-changing events as the leads. They could have been (and I wanted them to be) so much more. The emotional outpour from Maya Erskine’s Tallie was especially heartbreaking and endearing. Honestly, I’d rather to see the story between Tallie and Rickey fleshed out.
So, it’s a take the good with the bad sort of movie where you want to like it and if you love these actors you probably will.
Sacramento arrived in theaters Friday 4/11