this movie was made in a busy and poor neighborhood. this movie also shows the characters personality very well. this story is told from multiple characters. the sexual parts really didn't have to be in this movie because it didn't tell anything about the character. this movie showed teenaged life in multiple was. i also think the father is too abusive to these boys so they hate when someone yell at them.

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.

This film is about the turbulent childhood of a writer who published his memoir of his days in a rough neighbourhood."A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints" tells a depressing story where life is very tough for the residents of the neighbourhood. It is plagued by violence as the residents seem to have poor impulse control. Even though I like Channing Tatum and Shia LeBeouf, their characters (and all other characters) seem to wander around the neighbourhood looking for fights, making them rather unlikable characters.With so much swearing and violence, it would be easy to think it is a gangster film. Of course, it is a personal film for the writer and director, hence the pacing is slow. Events in the film are bad, but they are not particularly cinematic, and not interesting for the big screen. I find the film boring and not engaging. The thing that bug me the most is that the film doesn't make any mention of any types of saints, either directly or metaphorically. I am disappointed by "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints", as it could have been an engaging and emotional drama with a very strong cast.

The story of our lives begins in youth, and no matter how far we walk into time, those moments of our life walk with us. And hard choices will be made and never taken back, and we will struggle ahead, never knowing what lies down the road. And we will always look back to remember the ones that touched our lives, filled our soul with inspiration, and gave us the strength to continue on.And the door to the past swings open, and we are led into the life of Dito Montiel. And through his pen do we witness a dramatic story of one living on the hard streets of Astoria, Queens, and as the camera rolls, we follow his journey from past to future. And with heart and soul do the actors bring characters to life, memories of those carried forever, and the depth of one revealing the fabric of his being, his definition echoes deep through the talented Robert Downey Jr . and Shia Labeouf. And inspiration meets us in the end, and love, friendship touches our heart. And the bitter sweetness of life are the tears that slide down our skin and fall like shooting stars across the night, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints.