I am always excited when I see a quirky Michael Cera movie, and it was no different when I saw the trailer for Sacramento. Firstly, he is our Canadian boy, and I always want to support Canadian. Second, there is something about his neurotic personality that makes me smile. Whether it is a comic book flick like Scott Pilgrim, his awkward but hilarious role in Barbie, or the critically acclaimed Arrested Development, Michael Cera has a charm, and it shines through in Sacramento, even if other portions of the film seem oddly familiar.
Sacramento follows Rickey and Glenn, a pair of friends who have drifted apart, when Rickey slides back into Glenn’s life and convinces him to go on a last-minute road trip to—you guessed it—Sacramento. Rickey, played by Michael Angarano (Oppenheimer, Will & Grace), is a free spirit who is clearly struggling with things in his life. Glenn, played by Michael Cera, is an anxiety-ridden, soon-to-be father who is finding pending fatherhood more dread-filled than joy-filled.
What I thought was going to be a goofy road trip film ended up depicting fatherhood in different ways, and that isn’t something you see explored often in film. When you do, it’s often a big joke, making fatherhood seemingly mean less than motherhood. Though Cera’s Glenn was over-the-top, I loved the way Sacramento explored the anxiety and fear men can have before their child is born and the same fears that can come once they are born, but that is a story beat I won’t spoil for you.
Kristen Stewart (Love Lies Bleeding, Spencer) plays Rosie, Glenn’s very pregnant wife. She is calmer and more grounded than Glenn and is clearly taking issue with the stress he is causing during the pregnancy. Stewart is the perfect pair to Cera’s awkwardness, but for once, she is the level-headed one. This is another interesting take on parenthood, where the mother-to-be has to face it alone while consistently talking her partner off a ledge. Her role is small but sets the tone for the film and gives us insight into Glenn as a whole.
Once Glenn and Rickey finally do get on the road, Sacramento becomes a buddy comedy of sorts, but the desperation Angarano brings to Rickey and the anxiety from Cera’s Glenn build tension on occasion. You’re watching two men who are desperate for help use the guise of a road trip to reconnect, forced by Rickey and resisted by Glenn at all costs, though encouraged by Rosie.
The film industry has a history of dropping similar movies at the same time. Friends with Benefits and No Strings Attached released at similar times, for instance. Sacramento is releasing on April 11th, right on the heels of A Real Pain, which has been dominating the award circuit. Two men who have drifted apart, reconnecting on a journey to find themselves again but clashing along the way.
Unfortunately for Sacramento, though the base story is different, the premise is still very similar, and A Real Pain does it better. Cera is the Jesse Eisenberg role, Angarano is Kieran Culkin, and the chemistry in A Real Pain is stronger. It’s hard not to make the comparison right now.
The other issue I have with Sacramento is the way we are expected to forgive Rickey and be glad when he finds his happy ending. Without spoilers, we find that he has made some really bad choices that are just sort of shrugged off by Maya Erskine’s (Mr. & Mrs. Smith) Tallie, a woman he had a quick fling with.
There are seemingly no real consequences to the men in the film, allowing for everything to come together in the end in a neat little package. It makes what could have been a bit more meaningful into something shallow, and I was really enjoying the themes it was exploring before this.
Sacramento had all the right ingredients for a decent, awkward comedy with some real heart, but the final scenes were more focused on a neat, happy ending than teaching any real lessons. Glenn’s character grows, but all of his issues seem to be washed away, and as much as I would like that to be true, Sacramento sadly makes it all too easy, cheapening the overall message.
