Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

People are voting emotionally.

Expected more

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

like many books, this film has the great gift to impose the flavor of its story to the viewer. and the basic tool for this is a splendid form of realism who transforms it in a form of documentary. a film about friends, family and the search to reconquest the essence of a period. about important small things. about joy and troubles and words, confessions, love and projects about future. a film about life meanings and about a place who becomes puzzle of memories. sure, nothing new. but the story of Dito Montielis fascinating for the universal references. parts from the youth of each viewer is present in this story from Astoria. events, figures, talks, dreams, choices are replaced in a different field but with same resonance. and this does A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints not great film but a personal story as descending in the past of yourself.

I'm not good at rating anything that you can rate, so I'm going to say I liked it. I don't care about the actors that were used or the story but I'll note that my favorite character was Guiseppe, but mainly because there was a lot about him that the movie subtly showed in his actions and attitude. He seemed like one of the most interesting characters. I think the worst character in the film was Antonio since he didn't do much good at all, he only accelerated the trouble that was to come with his rash actions. The movie did portray the character's and their relationships with each other well though, Dito's differences from his father were clearly shown and emphasized by Antonio basically being the son Dito's father would've wanted.

This relatively short movie (1,5 hours) features several great younger and older actors popular at present: Palminteri, Downey Jr., LaBoeuf, Tatum - to name the most frequently seen in the scenes. As the director Montiel did his debut with this movie, it is a remarkable cast. And they all do great job, there are no dull or mediocre performances.The background is grim, of course, there are several casualties, broken destinies, inter-generation discrepancies... Ugly and violent neighborhoods create empty and violent persons, and it is practically possible to change it single-handed; it is just the option of leaving or adapting - and the same life goes on. The main character made his choice - but had to pay spiritual price for this.The script is largely based on Montiel's youth experiences and this movie is recommended to those whose childhood was not so bright and shiny... Even comparison can be challenging.

I happened to catch A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints on IFC on-demand one day and since it stars Robert Downey Jr, one of my favorites and Shia LaBeouf who can act, when he's far-far away from big-budgeted movies, I gave it a chance. Though, I can't say I was really disappointed, I can say I wasn't that impressed.I guess it's just not my type of movie. It's a flashback movie of a novelist who speaks not-so-fondly over his family living in Queens, NY in the mid-1980s who screams every line, incessantly talks over each other and the punk kids he either grew up with or wooed. Realistic, I suppose, but I'm certainly glad I never had to ever endure one minute of this guy's life.Older Dito (Downey Jr.) starts off in the present reciting his life story and then we get the typical 80% past and 20% present movie. In the past, Young Dito (LaBeouf) hangs out with the wrong crowd with aspirations of getting out and promising a girl he'll take her with him. He's also dealing with his loud father who, per his own words, is very abusive, though through sight, I honestly don't think he was that back. I've seen worse.The kids, or mini-gang, just wander around Queens always getting into a beef with a real gang. Yelling, swearing, baseball bats, murder and accidental suicide ensures. And though I've already admitted I haven't walked in these kid's shoes – or lived in NYC, or any large inner-city, for that matter, I doubted their reactions. Such as after the accidental suicide, and at the funeral, the brother of the deceased goes on to talk about the previous plot point as if nothing ever happened. Those parts I found unrealistic.Other than that, I'm sure these situations and families truly lived like this, and just like a lot of movies, a la Boyz n the Hood, I'm sure there's always at least one member wants to break out of the mold and venture to a cleaner life. But, we've been there, done that, with a lot more interesting characters. And with characters we actually care about. There wasn't a single likable or charismatic person in this movie, including Dito, that I rooted for.So if loud and overlapping conversations, yelling, swearing, ruthless and "abusing" low-life families and kids stuck in the 1980s is your bag, you might like this "real portrayal." Other than that, you're best just to go back to (or in this movie's case, forward to) the much better 1991's Boyz n the Hood.