REEL | Michael Angarano Makes A Detour to 'Sacramento'

"Anger's just sadness with nowhere to go."

Vertical Entertainment / Game Theory Films

Actor Michael Angarano helms his sophomore directorial effort in the endearing road trip buddy comedy Sacramento. Starring him and Michael Cera as estranged best friends whose lives are headed in seemingly opposite directions in adulthood, the indie film follows their impromptu six-hour drive to the Californian capital city from Los Angeles to reconnect.

Co-starring Angarano's real-life ex-girlfriend Kristen Stewart and his actual wife Maya Erskine as Cera's pregnant wife and his character's hookup, there's a funny uneasiness to the central friendship. Everyone feels like they know each other, likely from a shared history, with different but complementary anxieties that bind them together.

Angarano's script, co-written with fellow actor Chris Smith, initially feels like another charming but otherwise standard vanity project from an actor/director looking to showcase himself and his friends in interesting roles others might not think to cast them in. However, halfway through, when we learn more about the characters' histories and possible futures, Sacramento's cleverness becomes clearer and more sophisticated, particularly its exploration of parental angst and anxiousness.

Angarano's road film is a winning endeavour grounded in its intriguing performances. All the actors in Sacramento feel very much on the same wavelength as they drive forward the amusing indie comedy about growing up and into fatherhood.


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