'Sacramento' trip is decent and short
HANDOUT
Timing counts for a lot, of course. If you’re at the right place in your life, “Sacramento” might hit hard, particularly if you’re anxiously expecting your first child, and particularly particularly if you haven’t seen “A Real Pain.” That movie deals with very different subject matter, but there are big similarities at the core, and “Sacramento” doesn’t come remotely close in that head-to-head. Yet it’s offbeat even when familiar, with enough quirks without being quirky, to just barely get over the line even as it struggles to reach 83 minutes.
To an extent we’re back in “Immature dudes need to grow up” land; Glenn (Michael Cera) has decided he’s grown tired of his best friend Ricky (director/co-writer Michael Angarano), the kind of guy who hides in trees, even though Glenn’s the kind of guy who hides from the hider. Glenn’s struggling with proper crib assembly as he and Rosie (a very overqualified Kristen Stewart) approach their due date and is not thrilled when his estranged pal shows up and semi-forces him into an impromptu drive from L.A. to the titular city, supposedly to scatter his late father’s ashes. What ensues is both conventional and appealing, with performances that tap into the delicate status of the friendship (Angarano’s real-life spouse Maya Erskine is effective in a small role as well) and also the distance between what’s expected and what seems possible. In no way is “Sacramento” like “Superbad,” but there’s something to the idea of the new movie exploring the future of the old one’s bond.
Like a bad driver, “Sacramento” has a tendency to swerve; you’re into it, then you’re not, then you’re back on steady ground. And even if it doesn’t go somewhere new, the way it gets there is often a few inches to the side of what you think.
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