A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints hits select theaters on September 29. The film is the big screen debut of Dito Montiel, who wrote the screenplay and directed the film based on his memoirs of the same title. It is a debut film that impressed at this year's Sundance Film Festival, winning the Dramatic Directing Award and a Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble Performance.
It is the story of Dito, a kid that grew up on the streets of Queens during the 1980s. He was a kid struggling to survive as his friends and neighbors get sucked into the pervasive violence and drugs. He escaped the troubles around him and a strained relationship with his father to California, where he became a successful writer. His father falls sick, precipitating Dito's return to Queens.
His return stirs up his memories of the "saints" which guided and protected him through those times. Those "saints" were his friends who helped him and watched over him during those rough years. It appears that the story is told in flashback as Dito attempts to reconnect with his sick father while remembering the crucial year of 1986 and the friends that left a lasting mark on him and his path.
The trailer looks pretty impressive. It has a very gritty feel to it, with strong emotional overtones. Robert Downey Jr. plays the adult Dito attempting to connect with his father, played by Chazz Palmentieri. Shia Lebouf plays the younger Dito, and looks to be having a star turn here, if the trailer is to be trusted.
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints opens at eight theaters in New York and Los Angeles, with the possibility of going wider later. It is rated R and is being released through First Look Pictures. Before you venture out, be sure to see the trailer and visit the official site.
The poster and stills, click for a larger image:
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