A GUIDE TO RECOGNIZING YOUR SAINTS

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Dianne Wiest, Rosario Dawson

98 mins 15
Rating: 5/5

Every so often a film comes along that begs to be seen. And sometimes, just sometimes, a
film comes along that doesn’t so much beg, as forcibly drag you, kicking and screaming at
point blank range, into the cinema, so potent is its energy. A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
is one of those films. See it, and prepare to be left breathless.

Dito, a successful writer living in LA, is summoned home after a 15-year absence when his
father becomes seriously ill. Prowling the sidewalks and subways of the tough New York
neighbourhood in which he grew up brings back poignant, painful memories of the people and
experiences of his youth: the brash best-friend heading for a fall; the girl he first loved, or at
least said he did; the father whose love was strong but suffocating; and, of course, the ones
who didn’t make it out alive. Faced with the ghosts of his past, Dito is forced to realize that
there are some choices and consequences that can never be outrun.

A hard-hitting coming-of-age drama – think Stand By Me as rewritten by Quentin Tarantino –

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints employs many familiar film motifs: a classic New York
milieu, oozing with attitude; a family life littered with brewing resentment; a backdrop of
violence, gang mentality and disaffection. And yet, as recognizable as these themes may be,
the way they are presented is fresh and utterly gripping.

With its jagged, impressionistic style – scenes are often constructed using recurring snippets
of dialogue and narration, flash-forwards, and giddy handheld camerawork – the film not only
mimics the imperfection of memory, but also creates a hazy, unsettling suspense. Only once
does the film’s stylistic ethic stumble, when the characters jarringly introduce themselves to
the screen midway through the film. It serves only to repeat what we already know, but it is a
minor misstep in a film that effectively manages to create scenes of often excruciating
intensity – including a train track sequence that will leave you stunned. And yet for all its
hard-hitting violence, barely a single drop of blood is seen.

The performances are uniformly excellent, certainly Oscar-worthy, and the characters
convincing and colourful: from Dito’s understated, understanding mother (Dianne Wiest) and
his macho-fixated, emotionally-dependent father (a jaw-dropping Chazz Palminteri), to
vulnerable and volatile friend Antonio (Channing Tatum) and, as if we could forget, Frank, the
gay dog walker.

A rare, hypnotic vision of troubled youth and the price paid for escape, A Guide to Recognizing
Your Saints is cinema at its raw, searing best – it may leave you drained but it will also leave
you exhilarated.