A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints is a film based on the life of writer/director Dito Montiel. Montiel created the screenplay, which became his directorial debut following the success of his book by the same name. While the film was okay, it surprises me that it was nominated for several awards and actually won a few (Sundance) for Montiel.

Dito Montiel created characters that were a montage of real people. While some of the characters may have been based on as many as a half dozen people, Montiel gave each of them the name of a real person from his teenage years. The film is set in the 1980s in Astoria, New York. When we meet Dito (Shia LaBeouf), he is hanging out with a group of ruffians that include Antonio (Channing Tatum), Antonio's younger brother Giuseppe (Adam Scarimbolo) and Nerf (Peter Anthony Tambakis).

The quartet also hang out with several girls. Among them is Dito's girlfriend Laurie (Melanie Diaz). The boys push their boundaries at every turn. The boys are protective of their turf, which ultimately leads to violence. Dito also creates tension with his inner circle of friends when he begins hanging out with a new kid in his class, Mike O'Shea (Martin Compston). The boys earn extra money walking dogs for a flamboyant friend of Mike's named Frank (Anthony De Sando).

After Mike is murdered, Dito realizes that he has to get away from Astoria or he is going to end up hitting a dead end like his friends. His father (Chazz Palminteri) attempts to keep Dito home, leading to a strain in their relationship that never heals. It is that rift that creates the flashback from the present day. Dito's mother (Diane Wiest) has called Dito to tell him his father is ill. His return home causes him to reflect on the people who affected his decisions in life.

A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints is based on a memoir. The characters are complex and interesting, but the story itself is rather anti-climactic. It seems that there is an undercurrent of dysfunction between Dito and his father, in spite of the fact that the father has always been there for him. However, the film never really gets candid about the baggage between the two. I think if Montiel had come clean about the relationship, it may have made more sense to the audience. Instead, we are left guessing regarding the rift.

The flashbacks weren't too confusing and helped keep the pacing up, but the cuts were choppy at times. There were a few scenes where Montiel attempted to create tension by causing the camera to black out. Instead, it only managed to aggravate me. It was not an effective use of the medium. The tension created by the violence and personal interactions was far more engaging. Because the characters were strong, the film maintained my interest. The story itself ended up being rather forgettable. This one seemed to be more about the journey. I can accept that.

The performances in A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints were exceptional. I am not a fan of LaBeouf. That's interesting, because he almost wasn't cast in the role. He punched a hole in the wall during his audition and ended up convincing Montiel to cast him. I could have done without LaBeouf, but he was tolerable. The rest of the cast was incredible. Veterans like Wiest and Robert Downey Jr. anchored the cast with solid performances. The one standout in this film was Frank the Dog Walker (Anthony de Sando). De Sando was incredible, delivering a high strung performance that lent credibility to his role. A strong cast helped this average film.

A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints contains plenty of objectionable material. There are several adult situations, to include an attempted sex scene in the stairwell of an apartment building. There was quite a bit of dialogue built around sexual themes, as well. The nudity was limited to a boy walking naked on top of a building and female breasts. The language was ripe throughout the film. Violence and drug use round out the material that earned this film an R Rating from the MPAA. Mid-teens and above should be fine. Run time: One hour, forty minutes.

A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints wasn't as good as I thought it would be, but I enjoyed it. The star studded cast gave depth to the characters. The characters were interesting and engaging. The film never seemed sluggish. However, the cuts were often rough and unpredictable. What seemed intended to create tension was merely a distraction. The story also failed to ferret out the key relationships, which felt important, yet never really panned out. It resulted in an ending that was anti-climactic and unrewarding. It was a decent film that could have been outstanding. 6.5/10.

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