Tag Archives: road movies

Boys to Men

Sacramento

by George Wolf

“You would bail. I see it all over your face.”

First their first meeting on opposite sides of a serene California lake, Tallie (Maya Erskine) sizes up Rickey (Michael Anganaro) pretty well.

Anganaro’s instincts are just as sharp in Sacramento, only his second feature as writer/director after decades of acting gigs. It’s a witty combination of finely-drawn characters, consistently boasting a dry self-awareness that earns the LOLs.

Rickey favors socks with sandals, giving unlicensed psychological counseling, and milking sympathy from the semi-recent death of his father. Dropping in (literally, from a tree) on his buddy Glenn in L.A., Rickey suggests a spur-of-the-moment road trip to Sacramento – for old times sake!

But Glenn is a husband who out kicked his coverage and a neurotic soon-to-be father, trying to assemble cribs and hold on to his job while his pregnant wife Rosie (Kristen Stewart) exhibits the calm, pragmatic demeanor of an actual grownup. She’s patiently understanding of the boys’ self-important tomfoolery, and up the road they go.

Yes, there are some hi-jinx typical of road movies, but Anganaro’s dialog is always crisp and surprising enough to keep you engaged and curious. Both he and Cera delivering affecting performances that ground the characters enough to hilariously elevate what are essentially pretentious bouts of “I know you are but what am I?”

And why would Stewart sign on to just be the understanding wife at home? She wouldn’t, and Rosie is more than that. She and Tallie become nuanced, interesting characters essential to this journey, and the film would crumble without them and the turns from both Stewart and Erskine.

Anganaro also has a good sense of pacing, wisely keeping things moving quickly enough to wrap up before conveniences turn to contrivance.

Sacramento haș plenty of fun with arrested development – Glenn’s desperate phone calls to one of his old buddies are awkwardly hilarious. But the film’s heart comes from those moments when boys (and girls, too) start accepting the responsibilities of adulthood. It’s far from a new story, but these characters make it one worth revisiting.

Just Breathe

Asthma

by Hope Madden

A bruised, muscular romanticism – a nostalgia for a hipper, more rebellious and gorgeous reality – informs Jake Hoffman’s Asthma.

The beautifully damaged Gus (Benedict Samuel) can’t claim a place in the generic uniformity of the modern world. He longs for the grittier and richer reality he believes came and went before his time. So he steals a Rolls, picks up the girl he admires, and attempts the kind of tragically restless road trip you might find in a Godard film.

All of which would feel precious were it not for erratic but solid performances, and a revelation that unveils Gus as the poseur we knew he was. Surprisingly, Hoffman and Samuel are able to mine that late-film revelation to connect the lead with the ordinary Joe in the audience, and still make his troubles resonate because of the genuine pain in the performance.

For all the film’s showy quirks – Nick Nolte, for instance, is the voice of Gus’s Guardian Angel/Wolfman – Hoffman’s abrupt manner with both camera and soundtrack keep things from feeling frivolous or pretentious.

The slew of peculiar folk Gus meets along his journey nearly chokes any hint of authenticity from Asthma, although the great (and appropriate) Iggy Pop is like a needed and timely punch in the gut to a film just about to topple over with its own quirkiness.

For a hyper-masculine road-type-picture, Asthma boasts a surprisingly nuanced female lead. Yes, Krysten Ritter’s Ruby looks like the typical off-beat beauty, and her character is certainly the right combination of naughty and nice to fit the bill, but Ritter never lets the character off too easy. She makes poor decisions, kicks herself for them, hardens, and moves on – all with a grace that feels of this time and of another.

There’s an addiction theme that threatens to hold the film together, give it purpose and drive, but often feels like the least authentic piece of the movie. Without it, though, Asthma too often comes off as a nostalgic riff on another era’s nostalgic riffs.

Hoffman’s a confident first time filmmaker with a product that is great to look if purposeless – kind of like Gus.

Verdict-3-0-Stars

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHA7Lt_uQPs