A GUIDE TO RECOGNIZING YOUR SAINTS

'''A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints''' is a 2001 memoir by Dito Montiel, in which he described growing up in Astoria, New York during the 1980s. It is also a 2006 film of the same name starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Shia LaBeouf.
Montiel also wrote and directed the film adaptation, which was released in the United States in 2006, in the UK and Europe on March 2, 2007 and in Italy on March 9, 2007.^[1] The DVD version of the film was released on February 20, 2007 in the United States.^[2]

Contents

Plot summary

Anachronisms

Cast

Awards

List of wins and nominations

Footnotes

External links

Plot summary

Dito (Downey) is a successful writer in Los Angeles. One day, he goes back to visit his childhood home, Astoria, New York because his father has suddenly become very ill. Memories of his childhood end up in jail or dead - and being swept back to his past in the summer of 1986. His friends include Laurie (Rosario Dawson), his childhood sweetheart; Giuseppe, reckless, destructive, and possibly insane; Mike O'Shea, a Scottish boy who dreams of becoming a musician; Nerf, a friend who eventually calls Dito back; and Antonio (Channing Tatum), a confident, volatile boy with an abusive father.
One interpretation is that Dito begins to believe that he has been saved from his friends' fate by his saints. Alternatively, he comes to realize that his saints were his friends and family – Antonio, Laurie, Mike, his mother, and even his estranged father.

Anachronisms

Although much of the film was set in the 1980s but filmed in 2006 there are a few anachronisms that are present in the film:

★ A phone booth seen in the background appears to be a Verizon phonebooth. Verizon did not exist until 2000, the owner of the phonebooth in 1986 would be NYNEX.

★ Although the R train running through Astoria was accurate in the 1980s, there were a number of anachronisms with regard to the subway rolling stock seen. The R40 cars seen in the film in 1986 would have been in decrepit shape, covered with graffiti and lacking air conditioning. In addition, the flags seen on the cars were not applied until 2001, after the 9/11 attacks. Although one car has the accurate "two-tone M" logo of the New York City Subway, the "MTA New York City Subway" markings would not be applied until the mid-1990s. Finally, the R40 interiors are noticeably graffiti-free. In 1986, most R40 car interiors were covered from floor to ceiling in graffiti. However, the camera inside the cars focuses on the window scratchitti instead.

★ Most elevated subway stations in 1986 would have been covered in graffiti. Although clean-up efforts had begun, the subway cars and stations seen in the film would not be cleaned up until around 1988 and 1989.

★ The film mentions 1986 as the year when most of the childhood drama occurs; however, much of the characters and settings suggests at least a few years earlier, if not more. For example, the girls ask Dito if he is,"rock or disco", a question which would've fit in the very early 80s, though by 1986, disco was long since gone, and rock was king. "Asteroids" was popular in the early 80s, but was probably not influential in 1986. Also, the main character, Dito and most of his friends do not look ~16 years old, but perhaps 12 or 13, also pointing to the fact that it was likely earlier than 1986 (Dito was born in 1970). It is suspected that the reason for these oversights is that the author wanted to fit stories from multiple points in his childhood together into a single year to fit the needs of a movie.

★ The person who Guiseppe is based on is still alive and living in Italy.

Cast

★ Robert Downey, Jr....Dito

★ Rosario Dawson...Laurie

★ Shia LaBeouf...Young Dito

★ Chazz Palminteri...Monty

★ Dianne Wiest...Flori

★ Channing Tatum...Antonio

★ Eric Roberts...Older Antonio

★ Adam Scarimbolo...Giuseppe

Awards

List of wins and nominations

'Sundance Film Festival'

Year	Group	Award	Won?	Notes
2006	Director's Award	Dramatic, for Dito Montiel	Yes
	Special Jury Prize	Dramatic, for the ensemble cast	Yes	Shared between Robert Downey Jr., Shia LaBeouf, Rosario Dawson, Chazz Palminteri, Dianne Wiest and Channing Tatum
	Grand Jury Prize	Dramatic, for Dito Montiel	No

'Gijón International Film Festival'

Year	Group	Award	Won?	Notes
2006	Best Actor	Dramatic, for Adam Scarimbolo	Yes

'Independent Spirit Awards'

Year	Group	Award	Won?	Notes
2006	Best First Screenplay	for Dito Montiel	No	Lost to "Little Miss Sunshine"
	Best Supporting Male	for Channing Tatum	No	Lost to Alan Arkin for "Little Miss Sunshine"
	Best Supporting Female	for Melonie Diaz	No	Lost to Frances McDormand for "Friends With Money"

Footnotes

1. ChanningTatumUnwrapped.com
2. ChanningTatumUnwrapped.com

External links

★ A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints Official Site

★ A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints on MySpace

★ A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints Official UK Site

★ A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints UK on MySpace

★ A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints on IMDb