Film takes same old trip to the ‘60s

You might have heard this one before: In the 1960s, many white, middle-class college students took drugs, had sex, played hairy blues-rock and called it revolutionary.

“Berkeley,” a loosely autobiographical drama from veteran writer and director Bobby Roth, follows a young man (played by Nick Roth, the director’s son) as he goes through just such a transformation after he lands at the titular institution in 1968. Think of “Berkeley” as “The Wonder Years” on dope.

This Rolling Stone-approved version of the ‘60s adventure has been handed down for decades now, and what’s currently needed isn’t more of this nostalgia-draped myth-making but a more expansive, inclusive and clear-eyed look at the unexamined cracks and crevices of that cultural moment. The 1960s were an exciting time for music and movies, no doubt, as well as a crucible for vital social change, but this sort of misty look back seemed done-for more than 20 years ago.

Though “Berkeley” may be based on Bobby Roth’s own experiences, he filters it through a narrative framework that feels distant and impersonal, a “greatest hits” version of the mainstream narrative of the times. Turn on, tune in, blah blah.

“Berkeley.” Unrated. Running time: 1 hour, 27 minutes. At Laemmle’s Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. (323) 848-3500; and Laemmle’s One Colorado, 42 Miller Alley (inside plaza, Fair Oaks Avenue at Union Street), Pasadena, (626) 744-1224.