Amazon.com: A film adaptation of Dito Montiel's memoir of the same name, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints is a compelling, thoughtful movie based on Montiel's childhood growing up in 1980s Queens. A writer and director who understands his limitations, Montiel wisely left the acting to the pros. Shia LaBeouf (Holes) plays him during his adolescence, while Robert Downey Jr. (Good Night, and Good Luck, Wonder Boys) portrays the grown-up Dito. Never mind that there is absolutely no physical resemblance between the two actors; LaBeouf and Downey are so convincing in their roles it doesn't matter. Switching effortlessly from present day (where Dito is a successful author) to the past (where he is a tough little kid trying to figure out if there is life beyond New York), A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints tackles Dito's complicated relationship with his parents (Chazz Palminteri and Dianne Wiest), as well as the friends he left behind. Eric Roberts is magnificent in a small role as one of Dito's tough, childhood buddies. His powerful performance makes viewers remember there was a time when Roberts was better known for his acting skills than for being Julia's big brother. Montiel--a first-time filmmaker--won the Director's Award at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival for his autobiographical movie. Raw, gritty, and honest, Saints) makes a strong impact and leaves the viewer curious as to how the rest of Montiel's life will work out. --Jae-Ha Kim
An Inspiring Tale From The Inner City A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints tells the tale of director Dito Monteil's struggle for life and inner peace while growing up in crime-riddled New York, and the escape he barely makes to California. The friends he had become the faces he sees when he pictures who he has become today and, returning years later to help his sick father, he finally faces the people he'd left behind and tried to forget. With gripping performances from Shia LaBeouf and Robert Downey Jr, supported by a talented cast, this movie is a must-see for any fan.
Hipster Lite If one has never directed a film before one should not, I repeat (with even greater emphasis), should NEVER direct an adaptation of one's work. This is because one will have enough problems trying to learn the new medium that those problems born out of adaptation will only bog one down, especially if the work adapted, itself, has problems. That said, let me introduce you to Dito Montiel, director of the 98 minute long 2006 independent film, A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints, adapted from his similarly titled nonfiction work. Some have labeled the book a memoir, but if the film is anything like the book, it is a hagiography, not a memoir, which would be appropriate, given its title. There's so much wrong with this film, yet I wanted so much for it to be good because I was predisposed to emotionally `like' it. After all, it's ostensibly a tale about growing up in a tough working class neighborhood of Queens, New York, and dealing with all the varied temptations that such a life and environment offer- i.e.- a slice of my own youth. Why would I NOT be inclined to like the film? Unfortunately, my head owns my heart, and this film is bad in too many ways, from Montiel's slapdash `style'- a bit of early Martin Scorsese aping, admixed with the `look at me, I'm cool' style of Darren Aronofsky, to just enough pointless experimentation (such as where the main character and his new friend speak to each other on a subway train via thoughts) with inappropriate cuts, voiceovers, fourth wall breakings, odd handheld camera angles, and inexplicable subtitles for English, of his own. Even worse is the trite flashback formula, as the current day framing scenes are even less compelling than the `memories,' and what little power the memories have is often short-circuited by a pointless flashforward. Of course, the tale, such as it is, is not much. Dito (Shia LaBeouf) is a hanger-on to several juvenile delinquents, and the apple of his creepy dad's eye. His dad, Monty (Chazz Palminteri), is one of those stereotypical New Yorker types from films (see dese, dem, and dose), whose only discernible difference is that he feels he is somehow a part of his son's teenaged coterie- not in a pedophilic `I really like boys' way, but in the pathetic and laughable old fart "I like boys' way. While Palminteri is no great actor, this film gives him no opportunity to even stretch his limited skills. His acting is overwrought, to say the least. The film is told in the stale flashback formula I mentioned....While not falling into the blatant stereotypes of most Spike Lee films, Montiel has not a single convincing nor credible idea how to construct a compelling story nor characters. Especially bad is Montiel's depiction of a gay professional dogwalker and part-time drug dealer, and the oldest standby in reality and fiction- that Antonio and Giuseppe are so screwed up because they have a lout of a father. Perhaps the only thing the viewer can be thankful for is that the blame was put on daddy, not mommy. Well, that and the realistic depiction of Astoria's rooftop culture; although, naturally, the exaggerated cursing of the young folk only aids the lack of plot coherence, it does not hide it. One would think that South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut had proved that cursing- even excessive cursing, could be used effectively, but only satirically, or if in the genuine interest of realism. In short, the film is not gritty, but silly; not moody, but dull; and imparts nothing to the viewer that your typical white boy wannabe rapper video could not do so, in far less time, while being devoid of the ABC Afterschool Special sort of moralizing. That this mess of a film won the Best Ensemble prize from the Sundance Film Festival shows that the problem with American cinema lies not just with Hollywood, but with the independent filmmakers, as well. There is just a need, it seems, to condescend to the Lowest Common Denominator at all times in all ways....Overall, A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints plays out like an updated, self-consciously artsy (watch the dot on the subway train window scene) version of The Lords Of Flatbush, save that its characters are far less appealing, and its essence is nihility. I hope that if he ever gets the chance to direct another film he heeds my advice that opens this review. I'm not holding my breath.
Growing up in Queens Sincere and heartbreaking story about four friends growing up in Queens. They go to school together, they spend time after school together, they protect each other. One of them, the main character Dito (portrayed by Shia B. as a teenager and R. Downey, Jr. as an adult) has complicated relationship with all of them. He feels loyalty to his freinds, but also realizes that he may be loosing his life to local thus if he stays around for a while. His relationship with his parents is a complicated one. His parents got him late in their lives and they are overly protective of him. They seek to be his friends, but Dito feels that all the love is smothering him more than helping him grow emotionally and spiritually. Dito's father loves him fiercely, but is it a jealous kind of love. His father is possesive and probably fearful of his own impending death (his health is frail). In an effort to keep his son close in order to ensure that there is someone taking care of him and his wife in their last days of their lives, he pushes his son away with his stubborness and inability to let go. Before long, Dito leaves East Coast for California where he spends another 20 years as a writer before coming back to Queens where memories of his childhood start to haunt him: his first girl crush, his friend duying accidentaly when he is hit by a train, another friend murdered by the local gang member, third friend drowning is drugs and alcohol in order to hide his own hopelessness and despair and and the last friend (played by fantasticly handsome and convincing Eric Roberts) is in jail after murdering a gang member who beat Dito with a baseball bat. All these people are tied together by the neighborhood they live in and never venture from (going to Manhattan is almost like taking a vacation to them). They do not know of any other world outside their own. They are also bound by the "old world" expectations where children's roles are defined from their birth to be a caregivers and safekeepers of their parents' old ages. When that conflicts with realities of our (american) culture, our own peronsonal needs and desires it is almost impossible to reconcile the two. Heartbreak is inevitable, but it is a kind of heartbreak that does nto erase the love. To the contrary, it seems to make it even stronger and more resiliant.
can you say "daddy issues" ? wow! Where to start ?? Umm...the writer and editor both deserve the one star rating. The editior seemed to try and fit everything he has seen in a lame movie before and cram it all in to here (typesetting narration, revealing the end before you know the beginning, charcters talk to the camera) and I guess the writer chose to make money off a movie with 'daddy doesn't love me' issues rather then shell out the $ to talk to a psychiatrist. Roario dawson is billed as being in this movie yet she doesn't show up till the hour long mark and the movie ends about a half hour after that. Robert Downey Jr was a very peculiar choice to play the 'grown up' kid. The two actors (young and old) look nothing alike. The portrayal of women is absolutely cringe-worthy where sex comes first and love doesn't really have much to do with it. Just a bunch of foul-mouthed teens who look at each other like pieces of meat and make cat-calls. There seems to be a message of 'don't ever leave your family or else you are a traitor' and it seems extremely awkward that a parent would really want to cage (not literally) their child that way. I personally could not have a more Italian family oriented life and what was shown here just left me confused. The storyline went nowhere and certainly did not make me care about what was unfolding. To show the writers block this had .... one of the main "plots" to this was that there was gang retaliation going on back and forth. Guess what for? Drugs? Guns? Pimps? Ho's? It was about SPRAYPAINTING!! That basically sums up the pace that this movie went at for me.
LIKE THE FILM'S CHARACTERS...THIS FILM GOES NOWHERE! I like these types of films and this film has some excellent performances. Diane Wiest is fantastic in her role as the loving mother and everyone else is on cue in this depressing "coming of age" movie. Life in the innner city looks bleak and hopeless for the characters in this film. It's biggest problem is it really doesn't go anywhere. It's worth watching, but I have seen better films dealing with the same subject. It's a good movie, but not great.
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