When Past Meets Present: a Tale of Two Friends

Read Time:5 Minute, 25 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
Sacramento
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Genre: Comedy
Year Released: 2024
Runtime: 1h 29m
Director(s): Michael Angarano
Writer(s): Michael Angarano, Chris Smith
Cast: Michael Cera, Michael Angarano, Maya Erskine, Kristen Stewart
Where to Watch: In theaters nationwide on April 11, 2025

RAVING REVIEW: There’s something oddly refreshing about watching two characters stumble through emotions with all the grace of a GPS recalculating your route. SACRAMENTO isn’t trying to revolutionize comedy/drama—it doesn’t have to. Instead, it plays with tone, structure, and character work in a way that feels intentionally grounded. It’s not a loud film, but that’s part of the charm: it speaks in quiet, sometimes awkward truths about the bonds we let fade and the moments we try to stitch them back together.

SACRAMENTO kicks off not with a bang but with a nudge—Rickey, played by Michael Angarano, meets Tallie (Maya Erskine) in a quirky lakeside encounter, setting a tone that shifts dramatically by the next scene. A year later, Rickey is spiraling in a different direction, grappling with the grief of losing his father, drifting between group therapy sessions and his half-baked ambitions. It’s not long before he reconnects—abruptly and not entirely welcome—with Glenn, his childhood best friend. Glenn, played by Michael Cera, is the visual representation of tension: a man unraveling under the weight of looming fatherhood and at risk of losing his job.

What sets this character study apart from more formulaic “opposites on a journey” setups is the refusal to flatten either into clichés. Rickey isn’t just the free-spirited foil to Glenn’s buttoned-up neurosis. There’s depth to their dysfunction. Rickey’s impulsiveness masks a sense of purposelessness, and Glenn’s structure is a barely held-together coping mechanism. They’re messy, reactive, sometimes unlikeable—but their flaws never feel written for cheap gags. Instead, their messiness is the point.

The road trip to Sacramento is framed as a mission to scatter Rickey’s father’s ashes. It’s a risky narrative choice, but it works. The film doesn’t condemn Rickey; it frames him as a man so desperate to feel connected again that he fakes closure to get it. There’s something human in that level of misdirection, especially when it’s aimed at someone who used to feel like a lifeline.

Cera leans into Glenn’s fidgety energy with his signature blend of quiet anxiety and unexpected emotional weight. His portrayal never dips into caricature. Instead, he gives Glenn a vulnerability that feels lived-in. Watching him fall apart over a small task gone wrong or wrestle with the fear of not being enough for his growing family strikes a nerve. Angarano, meanwhile, carries Rickey with a loose gait and a distracted glint in his eye—his performance skirts between aimless charm and the emotional residue of someone who hasn’t properly mourned.

Kristen Stewart’s Rosie doesn’t have much screen time, but she anchors scenes with an unknowing passion. Her character sees both men clearly, and her dry humor plays well against the emotional spirals of Rickey and Glenn. However, there’s a missed opportunity in how underexplored she and Tallie are. Erskine, in particular, has a screen presence that invites curiosity, but her arc ends up more functional than fulfilling. When your film centers on emotional authenticity, these sidelined characters deserve more than surface contributions.

The screenplay, co-written by Angarano and Chris Smith, blends humor with tension in a natural way. Much like real life, conversations stumble, circle back, and contradict themselves. The dialogue has an unpolished rhythm that avoids the trap of sounding too clever for its own good. The film is at its best during these interactions, when the characters let their guards down in fleeting, accidental admissions.

The film captures the awkwardness of rebuilding something that’s drifted out of reach. It never promises neat resolutions or dramatic catharsis. Instead, it settles into something more honest: the realization that closeness doesn’t always mean comfort and that forgiveness often arrives in half-measures. There’s an understated courage in that kind of storytelling.

SACRAMENTO doesn’t try to be profound every step of the way. Instead, it lingers in the small moments—failed conversations, uncomfortable silences, fleeting bursts of connection. It’s in those beats that the film earns its weight. The story may center on a road trip, but the real mileage comes from watching two flawed people fumble toward something that resembles growth. For a moment, I thought the film would have a much darker turn. I don’t know if it was intentionally misleading or if something was cut out.

It’s a modest, emotionally aware work that knows exactly what it wants to explore, even if it doesn’t always find the most efficient route. The performances are the glue holding it together, and while some narratives could’ve used tightening, there’s enough substance in the character work to keep the story grounded. For anyone who’s ever lost touch with someone they thought they’d always understand, this one will land with a quiet sting.

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[photo courtesy of VERTICAL]

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