Movie Suggestion: A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints

A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints (2006)
This is a great little movie about growing up on the mean streets of New York City in the 1980’s. Based on his own memoir, director Dito Montiel ventured into film for the first time with this 2006 drama. A story about a man revisiting the past he ran away from years before can easily drift into a plethora of clichés, but powerful acting performances set Guide apart. The film is split between “the present” where the unusually tame Robert Downey Jr. plays Dito, and memories of the past where Shia LeBeouf portrays the young Dito. Dito’s childhood was largely formed around his relationships with his proud father, played perfectly by Chazz Palminteri, and his abused, rough-and-tumble best friend Antonio (Channing Tatum). I expected the movie to be the Downey Jr. show but I was pleasantly impressed with Shia and Tatum. While the acting is very good, I give a lot of credit to Montiel’s direction and his creation of gritty, realistic onscreen relationships that keep the movie honest and unpretentious. I don’t know how this slipped under my radar when it came out, but I’m glad I got to see it. Don’t be turned off because A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints features Shia LeBeouf and Channing Tatum. It’s a genuinely moving story that I really enjoyed and I would recommend it to anyone.