Back in 2007, if you brought up that there would come a time when Michael Cera (who starred in Superbad and Juno that year) would shift into a full-blown millennial dad era of his career, it might have caused a spiraling crisis in audiences of a certain age about the passage of time. However, this can't compare to the experience of actually seeing it on-screen in the plenty silly though effectively sentimental Sacramento. The second feature from writer/director Michael Angarano (Sky High) who also stars alongside Cera, it's a film about two troubled friends who have grown apart in their respective adulthoods only to reconnect and set out on an impromptu road trip.
Though this may sound like a story you've seen before in the countless number of road trip movies that come out every year, the deceptive simplicity of this initial premise is merely the first layer of what becomes a deeply felt and often devastatingly funny little dramedy.
What the journey has in store for you is best left light in terms of plot details, but in a grand sense, it's a film about dads and dying. Rickey (Angarano) has recently lost his father and had a breakdown. We see the aftermath of it in a delightfully humorous early scene in which he hijacks a group therapy session to supposedly help others before gently but firmly being told by the actual trained professional running it that he needs to leave and take the tools he has learned to start living his life. That's when he decides to reconnect with Glenn (Cera), who is going through a big transition. Namely, Glenn's wife, Rosie, played by Kristen Stewart in a regrettably small yet still impactful part, is about to have a baby. This is something Glenn is struggling with in addition to fears he may soon lose his job as part of mass layoffs (painfully relatable). He is frequently hit with panic attacks, even being set off when the crib they bought has a minuscule creaking sound. It's a small thing, but it's the first moment of many where Cera's gently mirthful yet melancholic performance betrays how Glenn is increasingly failing to face the fears he has about his future.
The jokes that the duo tease out, including one great gag we see glimpsed through the window of a restaurant, blend together with a loving yet not uncritical portrait of the two men. They are, to put it lightly, complete messes and woefully ill-equipped for big parts of their lives, though neither will talk to the other about it. Instead, they'll both project their anxieties on the other and then try to hide from their own problems by offering support to the other.
Just when this risks falling into repetition, the film complicates and deepens this with a closing act that completely pulls the rug out from under you. The jokes still all land, with a magnificent Maya Erskine (PEN15) coming in to steal the whole film right at the end, but there is a more fraught tension we stumble through.
At multiple points, you think this could all fall apart, with one moment actually doing so as Glenn's panic becomes believably frightening with Cera pulling off a tricky shift in tone. At the same time, the duo remains completely in sync with the other, diving off the edge in a stressful yet comedic fashion before drawing us back in from the brink. When things then settle down, and we get a more quietly bittersweet finale, we understand that these two boyish men still have a whole lot of growing up to do. However, no matter how frustrating they can be to ride along with as cinematic passengers, their deeply human rapport would have you jumping in the back seat anytime for another trip. And honestly, we could all use more movies like this. As one final conversation crystallizes, Sacramento offers a sliver of truth in a chaotic world.
Sacramento
Rated R
Directed by Michael Angarano
Starring Michael Cera, Michael Angarano, Kristen Stewart, Maya Erskine
