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A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
User Score
7.1 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 25 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 25
  3. Negative: 3 out of 25

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  1. Marco
    Feb 21, 2007
    10
    Unbelievably beauty, strange poetics, daring choices of voices filtering over scenes and a story that is hard to follow, but draws you in enough to blow your mind away in the end. It seems at time out of balance, but that is the beauty of it. and for some really weird reason, the ending, the compassion, the sincere deeply heartfelt empathy made me even shed a tear.
    • 1 of 1 users said yes
  2. AmandaW.
    Jan 20, 2007
    9
    This movie was a convincing portrayal of the youth in Queens in the mid 1980s. Labeouf and Downy Jr. are amazing.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. ChadS.
    Mar 23, 2007
    9
    If you don't think off-color language can sound beautiful, just listen to the way these Queens teens(especially the girls) spout f-bombs and racial epithets in their Astoria wonderland of hormonal urges and premature bloodlettings. "A Guide to Recognizing your Saints" can sometimes be self-consciously arty, but this writer/director overcomes his indulgences by coaxing great performances from a group of young actors(especially Channing Tatum and Melonie Diaz) who know how to walk and talk like bad asses with just the right dollop of humanity. Like Sally Potter's "The Tango Lesson", the filmmaker(played by Robert Downey Jr.) is the protagonist, which can be a risky move because people will automatically label you a narcissist. Well, in "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints", the successful artist, the guy who left the borough; reunites with the guy who became a bum, the guy who went to prison, and the girl who had a kid. So yes, the filmmaker can't escape the perception that he's preening a little, but Downey saves his ass by looking genuinely humble and saddened by the people he left behind. This writer/director has talent. Look for the edit that transitions the contemporary Laurie(Rosario Dawson) into yesterday Laurie(Diaz), looking outside her tenement window for the guy(Shia LeBeouf) who could've changed her life. It's breathtaking, like most of this electrifying coming-of-age story that gives personal filmmaking a good name.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  4. SamJ
    Oct 27, 2006
    0
    How is it possible for this amateurish, poorly-made and stereotyped movie to get these kind of reviews. We've seen it all before, done far better! This film is an embarrassment.
    • 0 of 1 users said yes
  5. JosephK
    Oct 27, 2006
    9
    Raw, and gritty, like a punch in the face you cannot wait to tell your friends about. The sometimes poetic and artful nature of the film, through its stellar editing, cinematography, and soundtrack, never seems contrived, and works wonderfully. Even the arguably miscasting of 50 year old Eric Roberts is easy to shrug, after all he does know the role of vengeance very well, and coincidentally this is also Sundance’s Best of the Best.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  6. SteveS.
    Nov 10, 2006
    10
    One of the Years Best and most violently thoughtful films. Amazing performances from Chazz Palminteri, Dianne Wiest, and surprisingly, Channing Tatum.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  7. PaulK.
    Nov 2, 2006
    7
    I enjoyed this more as it went on, but the beginning and what becomes the past in flashbacks needed tighter editing, more focus, in particular with dialogue. A few chaotic scenes overloaded with expletives is fine, but the beginning ultimately drowns in it's redundancy. More character development and a stronger conflict between the father and son would have put this one over the top. Still, this is worth a look on video.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  8. DieterM.
    Oct 19, 2006
    8
    'A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints' is a beautiful, yet decidedly feel-bad movie. Great acting, great scenario, great photography, and aye lot of emotion. Gritty, but great.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  9. KenG
    Oct 25, 2006
    4
    The story and the characters feel very standard for movies from this genre. I felt like I've seen it all many times before. Nothing is done here to make it rise above the pedestrian feel. I'm also getting kind of tired of movies where everybody is miserable, yet the script can't be bothered to suppy enough reason for the characters to as misable as they are. Where the characters are all unhappy, just because of this idea that characters are supposed to be unhappy in movies. Sometimes one of the movies, of which I speak, is done well enough to carry it off, this wasn't one of those times.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  10. MattK.
    Feb 19, 2007
    9
    Moments of such brillant authenticity with moments of stilted drama. Really good movie. I was a little surprised. Lots of great performances especially from the young cast. If it wasn't for some of the awkward later moments this would be one of the best films of the year. Check it out.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  11. NormD.
    Apr 30, 2007
    3
    This movie is hilariously bad. Another example of an unintelligent, ignorant auteur/author mistaking his trite past for poetry. Another story of stupid people doing stupid things. At least, it was original when scorcese did it in mean streets.
    • 0 of 1 users said yes
  12. LiefS.
    Dec 31, 2008
    8
    Trying best I can not to be bias, having the movie take place in the place I grew up myself; I have to give the movie an 8. I deducted two points for really little things such as catching a few geographical flaws like the trains going the wrong way and the wrong lines of the trains; this is extremely small but as the movie was so realistic; they should have noticed this and also some scenes just ran for a little too long; the actual movie length was fine but just certain conversations like Downy Jr. in the car with his friend could have been cut shorter.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
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Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
67 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 25 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 25
  3. Negative: 0 out of 25
  1. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Don R. Lewis
    90
    Downey Jr. and LaBeouf as Dito as well as Chazz Palminteri as Monty are outstanding. Channing Tatum (who I've never heard of) is also amazing as the tortured soul Antonio.
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  2. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Duane Byrge
    50
    After a while, the crudeness and venality of the central characters proves as stifling as the incessant Queens summer heat does to our dubious protagonists.
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  3. Variety
    Reviewed by: Robert Koehler
    60
    Writer-director Montiel creates a movie of many parts that don't always congeal. Mix this with the many meaty scenes and a roster of often exceptional actors and the effect is one of a fabulous acting showcase more than a wholly finished work.
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