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A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006)
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| Summary |
Autobiographical story of a punk underwear model who survived growing up in a tough neighborhood. |
| Genre |
Drama |
| Direction |
Dito Montiel |
| Downey Factor |
Low-Medium |
| Character |
Dito, the main character returning home and recalls his youth |
| Looks |
Normal, a bit weary |
| Performance |
Weighty, intense. |
| Love & Sex |
Only in the flashbacks, his character is in the present. |
| Dies, Gay or Villain |
No, No, No |
| Other Actors |
Rosario Dawson, Shia LaBeouf, Chazz Palminteri, Dianne Wiest, Eric Roberts |
| Location |
Astoria, New York |
| RDJ Says |
[Dito Montiel] wrote a book about growing up in Queens in 86. You couldn't write something this insane about Catholic boys growing up and what happens. It's a spiritually poignant story ... it's like, Dito, did you train? Do you know how to box? And he's like, 'I got an idea.' And he goes in, and that's where the movie starts. Then it goes back to his past and how he grew up. It's great. It's a story about my generation. So that's one thing, I'm producing that. In the last two years we've taken it from the book to a script ... My first thought about making Saints into a movie was, 'I don't want to walk into the office of a quintessential Hollywood producer with this.' Dito and I are, first and foremost, friends. There are a lot of creeps in the netherworld between true indies and studio movies and a lot of producers who will give up on a project too easily. Not Trudie Styler. She's a really savvy business woman, but once she sets her mind on something she won't stop until she succeeds ... [Trudie Styler] really kicked our ass to get the right script. She was really diligent. At one stage she had me, Dito, and her Head of Development Alex Francis basically locked into a room in her apartment in New York, and wouldn't let us out until we'd nailed the structure. She was pretty much working on the project when I wasn't, and when I'd come out of an acting gig we'd go and work together on it some more ... The day before I started shooting I watched Dito and everyone shoot the scene in church where Antonio flips out. I'd heard the kid [LaBeouf] was great, and he was, and we talked. But we didn't get into any heavy technical stuff. I think it probably works simply because it's an example of good casting. But the key might have been that neither one of us were trying to play Dito per se. |
| Lit Reference |
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints by Dito Montiel
Montiel wrote the script, based on his autobiography |
| Gossip |
Downey first approached Montiel, encouraged him to write and direct the film, and got Sting and Trudie Styler involved in producing |
| Hot Link |
Official Site |
| Release |
First screened at Sundance 2006 |
| Availability |
Available on DVD in region 1, 2 and 4 |
| Rotten Tomatoes |
75% Fresh | 90 Reviews |
| Critical View |
Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle: Although [Shia LaBeouf] and Downey don't resemble each other physically, they bring a similar cockiness to the role that makes it seem like they could be the same guy. They're both tightly wound. But as the young Dito still believes there's a big world outside of Queens to conquer, the older one displays a kind of world weariness. Downey is hypnotic, especially in scenes where he revisits haunts from his youth. |
| 2 Reasons to See It |
1. At five years in the making, it was one of the most anticipated Downey movies.
2. The indie film made a splash at Sundance. |
| Overall |
The gritty coming of age story is hard to get into, even though on the surface it feels like it should be a great movie. |
