A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

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2:15

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

R

2006

1h 40m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

76%

Tomatometer

93 Reviews

73%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ 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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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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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Robert P

@Superbad 1 day ago

A Guide to Recognizing your family is a 3.5 star Movie!

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Andrew J

@jynx2706 Sep 29, 2026

Did we ever see Dito kiss Laurie?

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Justin R

@Rosensjs195 Mar 7, 2026

I recently watched on Prime, it was very good and serious with an interesting view into lives of troubled coming of age young adults with a very good cast, serious subject matter, a little disturbing. Ditto stands up for a store front that is being vandalized and a reaper gang member stalks and harasses him and his family, as a result. Antonio beats the gang member to defend his friend and another reaper shoots Mike after. That whole scene there is a narrator or an inner dialogue that I did not get because it referenced characters not included. I tried to verify with AI because facts often verifiable with tech, AI denied but there is. Kind of sad story.

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Isiah P.

@oOstutterOo Jan 30, 2026

This movie was really hard to nail down in the way it made me feel. It was full of complicated, messy situations and feelings involving guilt, pressure, longing, and complacency. It captured the complexity of life in a way that I think is rare for movies to capture. That’s to say nothing of the story the movie is trying to tell. Overall I enjoyed my time watching it but it does leave you feeling unsatisfied as life often does. I definitely think this movie is worth watching and thinking on afterwords. It’s certainly a film that stirs the heart.

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Antonio V.

@Tone1212 Jan 20, 2026

A fantastic film ' gripping ' heartfelt ' emotional film about growing up in a tough neighborhood with close friends ' and the sacrifices it brings ' great performances from robert Downey jr' Shia laboef ' Channing tattum and the great chazz palmenterri ' also great soundtrack ' a must see

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OneMoreMovie ..

@wegonsee Dec 14, 2025

Intense acting. raw adaptation. A must watch

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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: Trailer 1

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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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