A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

The examination of some ones life can be an emotional and trying journey for the audience as well as the storyteller, and usually the events that are on display are not entirely pleasant. Here we're given an in depth look at the people and events that drove writer /director Dito Montiel to leave his home in Queens New York for the California coast, making him the person he is today. It takes a strong willed person to throw their life into the open for the whole world to see and no matter what the situation is, good or bad, they are who they are and they make no excuses.
After a phone call from his mother about his father's health, Dito begins to reexamine his life and the reasons that drove him to California. The realism of city life for these characters are in most cases devastating and heart wrenching, to watch these kids fight for what little life they can carve out for themselves leaves you wondering whose going to survive and who isn't. An outstanding acting job was done by all but the standout performance is put in by Shia LaBeouf, who plays the younger Dito, and with Robert Downey, Jr. playing the older Dito the chemistry of these two actors draws the audience into believing that they are the same character. One of the other actors that you don't see until the of the film is Eric Roberts, and even though the part he has is small its very strong and makes you wonder just where some of the friends that you used to hang with have ended up.
With all of the difficult situations that Dito goes through in this story it's amazing that there could be anything like a happy ending, but like most indie films now a days there's really no definite ending to the story. I had only heard about this film by chance and it peaked my interest to search it out and see what it had in store. After watching this film I was left with thoughts about what side of the story was I apart of, was I trapped in a life that I had no control over or was I able to escape that destiny. I think that everyone must answer that question for themselves, is the life that I'm living worth the effort and time I put into it. For me the answer is yes, I have always thought of it that way, but until I saw this film I never really gave the question much thought.