I saw "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints" at the 2006 Sundance festival and I was blown away. If it's rough and imperfect, it's successfully so; its quirks complement the youthfully wild and tragic themes of this artfully presented memoir. Part of what made the film for me was Dito Montiel's apparent sense of humor in dealing with his past. "AGTRYS" is an infusion of sex, tragedy, violence, and uplifting spirit. I left the theatre feeling great and I've been searching desperately for the DVD ever since. Try it! A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
This well-made film has galvanizing performances by a young, energetic cast and some wonderful turns by veteran performers, Dianne Wiest and Chazz Palminteri (plus a cameo by Eric Roberts). The cinematography and editing create a constantly kinetic and agitated style of storytelling. The viewer is propelled between past and present, as the central character, Dito, lives and relives the experience of being a teenager 25 years ago on the mean streets of Queens. Based on the memoir of Dito Montiel (who also wrote and directed), the film covers ground we have seen in many other films: coming of age in a working class Italian-American neighborhood, where street talk is rough, violence is everywhere (both in and out of the home), and just getting through childhood alive is a major achievement.
Some viewers may wonder whether Robert Downey, Jr., is the right fit for the role he plays, but if you're a fan, you won't mind his portrayal of a perplexed and troubled man thrust into the position of making amends with a dying father who seems to have loved another man's son more deeply than his own. The DVD has a commentary by the director, an informative making-of featurette including interviews with cast members and the director, plus other material.
Let me start by saying I didn't have any trouble with the coarse language or the incessant contentiousness of the characters. Nor did I have many problems with the sound-delayed presentation of the overlapping lines of dialog, or the "artsy" closed caption-style graphics, or the blacked out scenes or any of the bold, impressionistic choices that director Dito Montiel makes in this allegedly (but not really) autobiographical tale. After all, Dito comes from the hardcore/punk scene, so it's no surprise that he chooses to push the envelope and intentionally agitate his viewers. And I prefer directors to take chances and fail rather than take no chances at all.
The main gripe I have about the film is, though it was very well acted, the writing and the story never make it clear just what Dito's father Monty (Chazz Palminteri) or Dito himself (Shia LaBeouf) see in the troubled and abrasive Antonio (Channing Tatum) character. I understand that Dito might have been just looking up to an older peer, regardless of how unruly or unpleasant he was (or the reasons behind his unpleasantness), but I just couldn't figure out why Monty would in many ways seem to choose Antonio over his own son, Dito. And since these relationships are at the heart of the film, this is a rather major flaw, in my eyes.
The film does make a great case as to why they SHOULDN'T hold Antonio in any esteem, however. Dianne Wiest (in a superb performance as Flori, Dito's mom) is constantly advocating a cautionary approach to Antonio. And when Scottish pal Mike O'Shea (played by the excellent Martin Compston - check out his standout performance in "Sweet Sixteen" if you like him here) says of Antonio, "The guy's a f---in' dick, Dito. It's because of him you're f---ed up," well - I couldn't agree more!
Anyway, I listened to the entire commentary, done by writer/director Montiel himself along with his editor, searching for clues about this character dynamic. And all I really got from the commentary about the story was that Dito (the director) has one thesis statement for this film: "This is a whole movie about people saying nothing, going nowhere." Oh, and he and the editor purposely edited out all the funny parts. Plus Dito admits that the young actors look nothing like the actors who are playing their older selves. Great - thanks for enhancing my viewing experience.
In addition, I think this movie gets too much credit/slack for being an autobiography, when in fact there is a lot of truth-bending (if not breaking) going on here. I don't want to reveal too much, but the fates of both Antonio and his brother Giuseppe are greatly exaggerated in the film. And Nerf takes a completely different course in real life. Which would be fine in a work of fiction, but I think too much value is placed on this film being a true-life memoir, when in fact it is constantly veering into James Frey territory.
To summarize, though the acting is terrific (Dianne Wiest and Rosario Dawson are especially entrancing) and the directing is somewhat fresh and innovative, the story itself ultimately left me cold. And the fact that it's not even truly autobiographical makes it even less remarkable. I'd like to give this film 2.5 stars (an average rating, not a negative one), but the Amazonian star system demands whole integers, so I'll round up to three because I admire Dito's moxie as much as I do his movie.
The DVD itself has some pretty good features: there's a 20 minute "making of" featurette consisting of many interviews with the cast and producer Trudy Styler (aka Mrs. Sting). There's one alternate opening and four alternate endings (both with and without commentary) and a bunch of deleted scenes (again, with or without commentary). There's also the 6 minute "rooftop scene," made by Dito whilst training at Sundance Labs. But if you don't like the movie itself, odds are you won't have too much interest in the features. I say, despite its high Amazon rating, approach this film with caution and maybe rent before you decide to buy.
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