Growing up can be hard. There’s no way around it; the journey from young to old, naive to wise, and irresponsible to responsible has bumps in the road for all of us. For some people, the process is thrust upon them, and others avoid it like the plague, but it’s a journey we all must take. Michael Angarano and Michael Cera are two men audiences have watched grow up in front of our eyes, but Sacramento –directed by Angarano– might be the first time that we’ve seen them grow up.
At the outset of the story, neither man is read yet. Glenn (Cera) is moments away from becoming a father and riddled with such anxiety that a simple squeak in the crib he’s assembled causes him to break it into pieces. Luckily, his wife Rosie (a scene-stealing Kristen Stewart) is the calmest woman in the world and understands that when the child comes, she’ll have two to raise.
Rickey (Angarano) is Glenn’s oldest friend, the type that is more id than ego and maybe a little too active in group therapy. He shows up on Glenn’s doorstep for an overdue hangout, which after some minor emotional manipulation turns into a road trip to Sacramento.
The story that follows is one best described as sweet. Everyone has that one friend, one we came up with but grew apart from as lives diverged and priorities changed. There’s a particular dynamic to this kind of relationship that Cera and Angarano really nail. It’s a subtle awkwardness, a push and pull between the closeness of the relationship past and the distance in the present. Each manage a particular nuance in these roles; both using their expected personas to get audiences on board, and then when it comes time for vulnerability, it lands all the harder.
Link: https://keithlovesmovies.com/2025/04/06/sacramento-early-review/
