Tribeca Festival 2024 Review: “Sacramento” – A Quirky Road Trip!
If there is a film out there between two male friends with one being an offbeat and eccentric man, Michael Cera is bound to be a part of it. He has such an effortless ability to draw audience members to his characters and make them laugh along the way.
Sacramento, written and directed by Micahel Angarano, stars Angarano who plays Rickey, the old friend you wish you’d gotten rid of a long time ago, to Michael Cera’s Glenn. Having distanced themselves from one another when life “got in the way,” Glenn lives with his wife of four years Rosie (Kristen Stewart) who is pregnant with their first child.
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When Rickey shows up at Glenn’s house unannounced and requests they spend the day together, a day turns into a weekend as Rickey and Glenn take a road trip to Sacramento to scatter Rickey’s father’s ashes. As one may expect, this weekend results in the men opening up to one another and leaning on one another as they both enter into new chapters of their lives.
Although Sacramento feels recognizable in its script and comedic/dramatic structure, it possesses enough charm from its leads to push it beyond overly conventional territory. There is a relatable presence to the film between Rickey and Glenn that is both awkward and friendly. It reminds us of the friends we have often grown apart from and what it would be like to reconnect with them again. It is easy to spot where the film will land but it knows how to use humor and heart that will make anyone smile by the end.
Beyond the funny one-liners and always delightful performance by Michael Cera, Sacramento is able to further the idea that men have the ability to express themselves and their feelings to their partners, but sometimes the most important thing a man needs is another male friend to lean on. This unspoken idea that when a guy gets to see his old friend they should talk about anything other than their feelings is present in Sacramento. However, it progresses in a way that allows the characters to sit with their mistakes and panic until it becomes apparent a lot of time could have been saved had they used one another as support in the first place.
Rickey and Glenn both have a lot bottled up and both project their own insecurities onto one another in some funny moments. With that, the main takeaway from Sacramento is the importance of allowing men to have a safe space to unpack their emotions, starting with that space being one another.
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Fatherhood is also explored in a familiar yet sweet fashion. With the constant thought that women have the most on their plate physically and emotionally when they are to be new mothers, sometimes the luck of the draw is that the soon-to-be father is the one with the most anxiety.
Sacramento lets its fellow male audience know that it is okay to not be prepared, panic, or be anxious. Sometimes all you need is a friend close by to talk to, even if they are just as clueless as you are. Sometimes even shared cluelessness with your best friend is enough to help you get by. This movie is a quirky and cute film that gives us just enough to hit the spot.
‘Sacramento’ Rating – 3/5
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