Set largely in 1980s New York, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints is a bruising look at how difficult it is to leave behind certain communities and cycles of behaviour. It makes for uncomfortable viewing at times, but is nevertheless an engrossing viewing experience. It convincingly captures the distinctive oppressive atmosphere of a very specific point in time and space. It helps that this is an unquestionably personal story. First time writer/director Dito Montiel is here adapting his book of the same title, which is a semi-fictional take on his experiences growing up in the Astoria district of New York. The film switches between Dito in 2005, the successful author returning home for the first time in 15 years to confront his ailing father, and Dito in the 1980s, coming to terms with the necessity of his flight from his surroundings. While the bulk of the story takes place in the flashbacks, the reflection of the modern scenes provides some of the film’s most affecting moments. Indeed, one of the movie’s greatest strengths is its ambiguous judgement of Dito himself. It’s easy to see why he would want to leave the apparent despair around him, but the repercussions of his departure are disarmingly clear.

First-time director Montiel has crafted a fine piece of cinema that makes the most of its non-linear storytelling and contains some striking visual and editing flourishes. In particular, the inevitable heart-wrenching moments are handled very well from a technical point of view. Similarly, not enough praise can be heaped upon the cast. The youthful ensemble invigorate the 1980s’ teenagers with all-too-familiar adolescent angst. It is the adult cast, however, who do the most to bring home the emotional complexity of Dito’s actions. Chazz Palminteri is superb as Dito’s frustrating father, while Rosario Dawson owns her few scenes as the bitter childhood sweetheart left behind. Predictably, it is Robert Downey Jr. as the adult Dito who really stands out, imbuing the role with a pitch-perfect mixture of nervous charm and barely-concealed guilt, reminding us just why the recovery of the troubled actor is such cause for celebration.

Occasionally guilty of predictability, all of the usual good-kid-wrong-side-of-the-tracks clichés being present and correct, and finishing what feels like a few scenes too early, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints is nonetheless essential viewing, thanks to a gripping authenticity that makes this coming-of-age drama feel extremely fresh.

Four Stars
Stuart Smith