An honest, unflinching account of bittersweet relationships
that can never be what they once were, writer-director Dito Montiel’s candidly autobiographical
debut, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints,
is a poignant look at untangling misplaced love and idle idol worship, reconciling with family and
embracing the ghosts of your past.
15-year absence, is summoned home to
from
(Dianne Wiest) when his father (Chazz Palminteri) becomes seriously ill. Memories
of Dito’s misbegotten youth come flooding back as he revisits the old
neighborhood, attempts to rebuild a fractured relationship with his father and
encounters his “saints” — Dito’s few childhood friends who aren’t in prison or
dead. As Dito finds himself whisked back into the youthful events that shaped him
(Shia LaBeouf plays him in these flashbacks), an unforgettable cast of
characters unfolds to the sweltering heat of the summer of 1986. These include
Laurie (Melonie Diaz), Dito’s childhood sweetheart; Mike O’Shea (Martin
Compston), a transplanted Scot with an Irish name who dreams of becoming a punk
rock musician; Giuseppe (Adam Scarimbolo), a reckless, destructive and possibly
insane member of Dito’s street posse; and the unforgettable Antonio (Step Up‘s Channing Tatum),
Dito’s cocky and volatile best friend, who grapples with an abusive father.
of angsty youth gone wild. The film premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film
Festival, taking home awards in the Best Ensemble and Best Director categories;
it also picked up three Independent Spirit Award nominations, for Montiel’s
screenplay, and Diaz and Tatum’s respective supporting turns. If some of the
moves here feel somewhat copped (some of the jump cuts to me feel like nervous affectation
more than a solidly reasoned artistic choice), the investment of the cast definitely
elevates the material, and makes for a mostly pleasurable viewing experience.
beautifully preserves Eric Gautier’s evocative cinematography, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints’ DVD comes
with a Dolby digital 5.1 surround sound audio track, optional subtitles and a very healthy complement of supplemental
extras. Montiel and editor Jake Pushinsky sit for a full-length audio commentary track,
and since everything is a first for the effusive writer-director, his
enthusiasm and sense of appreciation is palpable throughout. A quite solid 20-minute,
making-of documentary includes interviews with cast and crew. There’s also audition
footage and a six-minute, Sundance Lab workshop version of a rooftop scene in the
final movie in which Montiel acts opposite Helen Dallas. This is intriguing
chiefly in comparison to the finished product. An alternate opening and four varying
endings stack up alongside 11 more deleted scenes, all of which come with
optional audio commentary from Montiel, who cops to learning a lot about writing
in the process of editing the movie; he says he overwrote the film by about 15
or 20 percent. C+ (Movie) A- (Disc)