Sacramento

Actor and director Michael Angarano offers us an indie journey through friendship and parenthood plagued by anxiety that makes this fun film one of the best pastimes of 2025. A road movie on a simple scale, but rewarding in its message.

An exploration of friendship.

This is a simple and human film that aims to be nothing more than a journey through the observation of modern man and his fears within his life and relationships, with all the complexity that this entails. It's a rich look at the anxiety of becoming a parent and how to cope with it all, captured in a delicious blend of dark humor and well-thought-out humor that delivers a true indie adventure with a star-studded cast. Michael Angarano and Michael Cera are a formidable on-screen duo, reflecting a strange friendship that feels as real as it is enriching. Meanwhile, wonderful supporting actors like Kristen Stewart and Maya Erskine provide powerful moments within this captivating story.

An intelligent management style.

In his second feature film as a director, Michael Angarano's direction is so carefully curated that it feels so innocent and unobtrusive, practically allowing us to be a traveling companion of this duo of friends. The director's great virtue is highlighting the strong connection that exists behind his cast, where directing his current partner, Maya, and his ex, Kristen, allows the director to feel truly confident in bringing the naturalness of splendidly interpreted characters. Both actresses elevate a film in which the men bear the burden of carrying the problems, but the women provide the necessary maturity to impeccably portray the challenges. An effective and enjoyable direction.

Conclusion.

A truly enjoyable film, well-made and with a deep love that gives us a great time in this anxiety-filled drama with laughter that soothes the soul and a simple and successful direction to enjoy one of the pleasant surprises of this 2025 and to which it deserves our time and enjoyment.

What a nice little movie to watch on a rainy afternoon. Small cast that just nailed it. Very wholesome with lots of great laughs. The two male leads are great together. Michael Cera does an excellent job with his character but the other dude is the main attraction here. I believe he also wrote/directed this bad boy.

Kristen Stewart was really good as well, hitting all the right spots with the small amount of time she did have in the movie. A few years along the way as well, especially near the end. I highly recommend this to anyone that would like to watch a nice lighthearted comedy for the afternoon. Enjoy!

Fondly remembered as Jack McFarland's son Elliott on "Will & Grace", Michael Angarano not only stars in this surprisingly adept 2025 road comedy, but he also directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Chris Smith. It runs a fleet 84 minutes, but Angarano manages to fit in quite a packed story about two boyhood friends who had become estranged as they moved on different tracks into their thirties. Angarano plays extroverted Rickey, perennially unreliable to Michael Cera's emotionally uptight Glenn. Upon Rickey's incessant cajoling, they take a road trip from LA to Sacramento, while Glenn's practical-minded wife Rosie awaits the arrival of their first baby. The shenanigans are somewhat predictable with the reemergence of their alpha male energy resuscitating their former bond. While Rickey's true motivations for the trip eventually become clearer, Glenn deals with his increasing anxiety over pending fatherhood which leads to an unexpected seriocomic plot turn. Angarano and Cera are both dexterous in their roles, though Cera teeters on caricature based on his own nerdy screen persona. Maya Erskine brings an earthy appeal to Rickey's put-upon girlfriend Tallie, while Kristen Stewart makes the most of her limited screen time and steals the picture as Rosie.

It took me a little while to get into the vibe of 'Sacramento' but once I did it became very enjoyable. It's a similar movie in a lot of ways to 'A Real Pain'. Every character looks like they are carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders, but trying their best to hide it.

The humour in the film is what takes some adjusting to. It is extremely dry. Once you adjust and start vibing with it though there are some very funny moments it has to be said.

Michael Cera was born to plays roles like this. I'm not even sure if he's acting half the time, or whether they just started filming him on break and worked it into the story. This one was a nice surprise. 7/10.

Michael Cera spotting. Who unsurprisingly, plays the classic Michael Cera character: sweet, fidgety, awkward, manchild, armed with a deceptive sense of humour. He's one half of this road trip, buddy-buddy flick. Michael number two, Angarano, is the smooth talking, too clever for his own good chum. Young adults with looming responsibilities on a journey to who knows where.

One is escaping, the other is returning, but neither is sure to or from what.

Angarano triple duties with writing and directing credits, is perfect as the affable but dangerous friend from the past. The one that existed as an awesome school foil, but seems oddly out of step in the adult world. Despite their history, the friendship is clumsy, as crucial time has passed. Events too.

Dealing with a pregnancy and a shaky job situation, Cera is in full nervous mother hen mode, but surprisingly agrees to a road adventure with his unscrupulous chum. It is a chance to sort. The duo provides great passive aggressive sparring and physical wrestling as only true friends can. And we have movie.

"Sacramento" turns out to be a classic talkie that explores emotional conflict and relationship struggles seldom tackled for generation Y. Feelings are hurt, lessons are learned, and there is a tidy ending. It comes with just enough funny tickles to bring it all home.

• hipCRANK.