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A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

Play trailer 2:15 Poster for A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints R,  2006,  1h 40m,  Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints: Trailer 1 A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints: Trailer 1 Now Playing View more videos
Stream Now Watchlist 76% 93 Reviews Tomatometer 59% 50,000+ Ratings Popcornmeter
76% Tomatometer 93 Reviews 59% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
Dito Montiel (Robert Downey Jr.), a successful author, receives a call from his long-suffering mother (Dianne Wiest), asking him to return home and visit his ailing father. Dito recalls his childhood growing up in a violent neighborhood in Queens, N.Y., with friends Antonio (Channing Tatum), Giuseppe, Nerf and Mike.
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A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

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Critics Consensus

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints is a lively, powerful coming-of-age tale with winning performances and sharp direction from first-timer Dito Montiel.

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Critics Reviews

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Anna Smith Film4 Feb 27, 2008
Superb performances and a gripping retrospective plotline make this tough cookie an entertaining one, even if its adult story strand is weighed down with vagaries. Go to Full Review
Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader Feb 27, 2008
Given all the filmed memory pieces about screaming, violent Italian-American families in New York boroughs, I'm not especially thrilled by even a well-made example. Go to Full Review
Stella Papamichael BBC.com Jul 31, 2007
4/5
It positively crackles with energy, featuring startlingly raw performances from a cast that also includes Shia LaBeouf as the young Dito. And if it looks ragged around the edges, that's as it should be. Go to Full Review
Cole Smithey ColeSmithey.com Apr 24, 2009
B+
Dito Montiel adapts his autobiographical 2001 novel into a vivid slice-of-life drama from the Jim Carroll school of disaffected coming-of-age New York journalism. Go to Full Review
Brandon Fibbs BrandonFibbs.com Feb 28, 2008
7/10
It is its very autobiographical roots that make Saints an emotional wallop, a raw, authentic work that is, at its defiant core, violently and unrestrainedly alive. Go to Full Review
Walter Chaw Film Freak Central Sep 6, 2007
2.5/4
I love the scenes with young people in the middle of a hot New York summer, talking to one another like panthers circling. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Abraham S Sep 24, 2018 I was bored from start to finish when I watched this movie.
Hagrid L Jan 9, 2010 A fairly forgettable movie.
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A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

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Cast & Crew

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Dito Montiel

Director

Robert Downey Jr.

Dito

Shia LaBeouf

Young Dito

Chazz Palminteri

Monty

Dianne Wiest

Flori

Channing Tatum

Young Antonio

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A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

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A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

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Movie Info

Synopsis Dito Montiel (Robert Downey Jr.), a successful author, receives a call from his long-suffering mother (Dianne Wiest), asking him to return home and visit his ailing father. Dito recalls his childhood growing up in a violent neighborhood in Queens, N.Y., with friends Antonio (Channing Tatum), Giuseppe, Nerf and Mike.
Director
Dito Montiel
Producer
Trudie Styler, Travis Swords, Charlie Corwin, Clara Markowicz
Screenwriter
Dito Montiel
Distributor
First Look
Production Co
Xingu Films
Rating
R (Pervasive Language|Drug Use|Sexuality|Some Violence)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 29, 2006, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
May 22, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$516.1K
Runtime
1h 40m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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