You know what you’re getting with a Fox Searchlight-produced or disrupted film. The studio is primarily known to bring independent and often unique films that generally do well during the film festival circuit. Slumdog Millionaire, Juno, Suburbia, and Slums of Beverly Hills are just some of the bangers cinephiles have connected with, and another is around the horizon. Although filmmaker Michael Angarano’s sophomore film, Sacramento, may not be a Fox Searchlight movie, it certainly earns the respect that many of those films have garnered over time.
Yet, it still has several glaring issues.
Sacramento, directed by Angarano and written alongside Christopher Nicholas Smith, follows the simple premise of estranged friends reuniting. Angarano, who plays Rickey, has lost his father and decides to reconnect with his longtime friend Glenn, played by Michael Cera. Glenn and his wife Rosie, played by Kristen Stewart, are expecting their first child, with Glenn on the edge of a nervous breakdown. Rickey shows up at Glenn’s doorstep to catch up, only to get Glenn into going to Sacramento to spread his father’s ashes and hopefully reconnect like old times.
Think of it like Sideways meets Little Miss Sunshine for Millennials.
Angarano and Smith’s Sacremento is decent for the most part and stumbles into and throughout the 3rd Act. The topics of fatherhood and feeling lost in your thirties are easily relatable and well showcased in the film. The writing duo does this through conversations between our leads that appear genuine. The film continues this trend to break the emotional pieces from each character to get to the heart of their underlying issues. That, in turn, allows multiple moments in Sacramento to come off as sincere, thoroughly entertaining, and downright funny.
A great example of this involves Rickey and Tallie, played by Maya Erskine, when the two cross paths during the movie. Tallie confronts Rickey about his choices, which have affected her life in a big way. Subsequently, this causes Rickey to face what he’s been running from, and what occurs is a rippling effect that reaches Glenn as well. Alternatively, though, the script could still use more work.
Some of the trials and tribulations these characters go through in the film are too easily dismissed and handled. Glenn and Rosie go through a pregnancy scare while Glenn is hundreds of miles away. Glenn’s insecurities are brought up during a phone call between the two, but everything is right in a matter of minutes. It’s done in such a way that almost hand waves the problem only to come back and hand waved just as easily. Scenes like these in Sacramento could’ve benefited from giving the script more pages or another crack at it.
However, the acting is something that gives the movie another saving grace. Sacramento delivers memorable scenes and acting moments between the cast, but authenticity is crucial. Angarano, Stewart, and Cera carry themselves in a way we’ve seen in other projects but seems more fitting within the context of this movie. It was like watching people I’ve known in my life that allowed me to connect with them. Additionally, Erskine has a bit in the 3rd Act that was a slap of reality the characters and the film needed to make her stand out in the short time she’s on screen.
Angarano is on the right path regarding independent and personal movies. I felt the filmmaker and Smith’s heart in the script and am very curious about what else they have to say about life. Despite some of the problems with the story, Sacramento is worth the watch, as well as the conversations with your significant other after the end credits.