Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 1:26 pm
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints is a coming-of-age drama based on the autobiographical book by Dito Montiel. The main story-line takes place in the 1980’s as Dito plans his escape from the violence of growing up in Astoria, N.Y. (Queens, New York City).
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I wanted to see this movie because I am a big Shia LaBeouf fan. My family watched a lot of Disney Channel during the run of Even Stevens (2000-2003), and when he did Tru Confessions (2002) for Disney Channel you could tell that he had a bright future. I am just glad Hollywood has picked up on his talent as quickly as they did.
The hardest sell in A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints is that actors Shia LaBeouf and Robert Downey Jr. play the young and grown-up version (respectively) of the same character (Dito). To me, they do not look similar enough to pull this off. However, they DO pull it off - through superb acting. All of the mannerisms, physical movements and speech patterns are duplicated by both actors. It’s subtle, but it’s definitely there.
The outstanding performance of the film, though, comes from Channing Tatum. To quote a review from IMDB (cuchelo1): “He is heartbreaking and scary and full of explosive energy. The screen can barely contain him.” I could not agree more.
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, and highly recommend it, with a warning about some of the language, and violence, and teenage sex.
[attachment=4240:2006_a_g...trys_014.jpg]
I wanted to see this movie because I am a big Shia LaBeouf fan. My family watched a lot of Disney Channel during the run of Even Stevens (2000-2003), and when he did Tru Confessions (2002) for Disney Channel you could tell that he had a bright future. I am just glad Hollywood has picked up on his talent as quickly as they did.
The hardest sell in A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints is that actors Shia LaBeouf and Robert Downey Jr. play the young and grown-up version (respectively) of the same character (Dito). To me, they do not look similar enough to pull this off. However, they DO pull it off - through superb acting. All of the mannerisms, physical movements and speech patterns are duplicated by both actors. It’s subtle, but it’s definitely there.
The outstanding performance of the film, though, comes from Channing Tatum. To quote a review from IMDB (cuchelo1): “He is heartbreaking and scary and full of explosive energy. The screen can barely contain him.” I could not agree more.
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, and highly recommend it, with a warning about some of the language, and violence, and teenage sex.