By John Corrado

Actor Michael Angarano directs and stars in Sacramento, a dramedy about masculinity and fatherhood that hits a lot of the expected beats, but still has enough of a scrappy charm to it.

Angarano stars as Rickey, an immature man-child in LA who has recently lost his father, when he comes crashing back into the life of his estranged childhood friend Glenn (Michael Cera).

Glenn has transitioned into domestic life with his pregnant wife Rosie (Kristen Stewart). Glenn has his own neuroses, put into obsessing over things being in order for their coming baby. But Rickey is still free-wheeling through life, and convinces Glenn to go on an impromptu road trip from Los Angeles to Sacramento.

The tone occasionally feels awkward and the script, co-written by Angarano and Christopher Nicholas Smith, has some story beats that strain credibility (there’s a questionable plot point in the third act that misses the mark as either comedy or drama). Stewart also feels somewhat underused as the wife at home, considering how interesting she can be as an actor.

It’s thoroughly familiar, quarter-life-crisis territory, but Sacramento still delivers enough enjoyable moments along the way. The film has been pitched as a sort of grown up version of Superbad, the teen comedy that put Cera on the map, which also detailed the evolving relationship between two friends who grew up together and are navigating major life changes. The film obviously does not reach the heights of that modern classic, but the comparison still sort of stands, thanks to Cera’s aged up portrayal of a similar character.

There is a naturally loose, shaggy feel to Angarano’s film, less focused on plot and more on letting us watch these two old friends reconnect. Angarano and Cera have good chemistry together as two different types of beta males, who both failed to properly grow up in their own ways, and are now faced with the responsibilities of adulthood.

Film Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)

Sacramento opens in theatres in limited release on April 11th, including at TIFF Lightbox in Toronto. It’s being distributed in Canada by Game Theory Films.