Directed by Michael Angarano
Written by Michael Angarano & Christopher Nicholas Smith
It might be strange to position things this way, but millennials are starting to make movies of their stories. To be fair, they have for some time now, but many of the big name directors now are probably Gen X, but we’re starting to see millennials breakthrough as well, and even Gen Z is right around the corner if you can believe it. The reason I even bring this up is because the types of stories we’ll see are starting to morph, and for me personally, a millennial, I’ll start to see things I am much more directly experienced or related to in the movies, especially smaller indie movies like this one which aren’t just IP based moneymakers. I grew up with Michael Cera. I grew up with Kristen Stewart. Now they are our movie stars telling our stories.
Glenn (Michael Cera) is a completely unsure father-to-be, who has extreme anxiety about his fast coming fatherhood, the potential of losing his job, and the realization that his friendships have grown apart over the years. His very supportive wife (Kristen Stewart) is caring the family and encourages Glenn to reconnect with his friends, including the endlessly odd Rickey (Michael Angarano). Rickey hoodwinks Glenn into a road trip to Sacramento from Los Angeles under the guise of a memorial trip for his recently deceased father, but Glenn begins to realize Rickey has ulterior motives, as the two begin to realize that the distance that has come between them is more a construct than a natural progression of their relationship.
I also feel like the type of movie we get here, a small comedy with a simple human story, needs to be made more. In general, less movies are made these days, and the ones that get made are often big blockbuster money makers. Stories like this, written and directed by star Michael Anganaro are either not made at all, or reserved for some far corner of a streaming service, usually as a television show. My argument is that certain stories demand certain formats. Not every story fits the format of a movie, but not every story fits the format of a television series or limited series either. Angarano crafts the type of story perfectly suited as a 90 minute movie. We get enough about the characters to build the connections needed within the framework of the story about these two friends going through adulthood and friendship problems. The world needs more comedies like this.
As to the content of the film itself, it’s a heartfelt and very real story. As a comedy, a lot is overblown or dramatized, but many people struggle with anxiety these days with so many things happening around us constantly. Becoming a parent, the threat of losing a job, not coping with a loss of a family member, all very real fears that people experience everyday. Angarano and Cera capture this all with the humor of the situation, and the humor I grew up on when Cera was in the biggest comedies of the 2000s.
Personally I connected very closely to the story. It hits home pretty closely with my experiences with human connection post-Covid, and the infertility struggles of my wife and I. In the end, it’s a nice 90 minutes to spend. Perfectly pleasant, occasionally funny, surprisingly insightful. It’s not a big, deep movie, or one that will make a lasting impression. It’s mostly just fine, but anymore in cinema we get far less than just fine. Just fine is a wonderful, fresh discovery. Theaters used to thrive and survive on just fine movies with movie stars with real stories. How far we have come that such an average and fine movie has me pining for the days when we could get at least one of these a week at the local multiplex. Those days are far behind us, honestly probably never to return. So are the days of our childhood now it seems only adult things envelope our lives.
Corndog Chats 