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I’m a big fan of a slice of life or road trip films. They both show a side of filmmaking that is rarely seen these days. In Sacramento, you get both of these genres in one film. Unlike a recent movie called A Real Pain, which is similar to this one. The characters in this movie seemed more relatable to me while I was watching them on screen. This seemed more likely to happen, which makes it better in a lot of ways than the other film I just mentioned, which I might add won an Oscar for Kieran Culkin for Best Supporting Actor. 

Rickey Angarano) is out camping by a lake in California one day and meets another intrepid traveler named Tallie (Maya Erskine) who is walking through the woods, and they notice each other. They end up spending the day together talking, laughing, and playing games before they have to go their separate ways. Months later, Rickey shows up on his best friend Glenn’s (Michael Cera) doorstep in Los Angeles. Who he hasn’t seen in years,Glenn’s wife Rosie (Kristen Stewart, who is pregnant, answers the door. She gets Glenn to come over, and one thing leads to another before you know it Rickey, ate dinner, spent the night, and eventually convinces Glenn to go on a road trip with him to Sacramento.

The two long-time friends who have been arranged for a few years start to catch up, but like life would have it, they start getting into the past. As road trips would be, they end up getting into a bit of trouble on the way to the capital of California. Some lies are told about spreading a dead fathers ashes, but that’s not the crux of this buddy relationship. The banter between the two is genuine, and I wholeheartedly believe these two were friends before the thing that made them go their separate ways. They have a great connection, and it felt very relatable to me. Of course, the events in the cold open come back to the forefront.  Despite that, these two had created chemistry on screen.

The women in the film are a bit different, though. Erskine has a spunky nature to her that I quite enjoyed. At first, she was an interesting person to watch, and then she became very fascinating as her character reappeared in the third. The things she was dealing with were real and made a lot of sense in the context of the story. Her relationship with the Angarano character had multiple layers to it, which made them a very relatable pair in my eyes. I can see these people very clearly, and they made complete sense to me.  Stewart and Cera, on the other hand, had not so much. I don’t know if this was deliberate on Angarano’s part as the writer/director as well as the co-star to make these two look unrealistic, but they were to me. Yes, I understand that sometimes men can fight above their weight class and use a boxing reference, but this didn’t feel very realistic in the context of the story, I’m afraid.  Stewart also seemed like she was going through the motions and not really into her character all that much.

The best part of this film was the road trip that was filled with back and forth banter and a few hijinx. Having not seen each other in a while, they get some things off their chests about past differences and so forth. The time they spent away from each other was for a legitimate reason, and I can relate to that sort of thing. I spent six months away from talking to or seeing my best friend because of something stupid I did, which made him very mad at me.  It happens to the best of us. Friends can have some disagreements from time to time because of pride, stubbornness,  or sheer stupidity on one’s part. These two found an interesting way to get over it, though. The film dictates that very evidently. It was done in a very entertaining way.

With any road trip movie, you get the vista’s or locations of where the movie is used as it’s place to travel to and from. California made a good place to travel. Highways, backroads, and scenic routes all had a beautiful look, as shown through the cinematography. The car the pair traveled in was a convertible, so it made for better views. The car became a conduit for which the pair of travelers could hash out their differences and could have fun in. The state of California is a beautiful state besides some of the external issues it may have, like earthquakes or bad traffic. 

Sacramento is a fantastic film that made me remember some good times I had with friends and bad times regarding my parents’ relationship when I was a little kid. This felt like a real friendship that had ups and downs in it. The subplot also felt very authentic  to my experiences in life. The performances across the board were very good, except for Stewart, who seemed like she was phoning it in and not wanting to be involved in this movie at all. She felt out of place regarding her casting and in the story. Looking at it from a script point of view, she was necessary, though. The real story was the road trip between buddies and the subplot between Angarano and Erskine. These made the film a worthwhile watch for me.

3 ½ stars

Dan Skip Allen