It's unavoidably self-indulgent - Dito Montiel directed the movie, wrote the memoir upon which it was based, and flattered himself by casting Shia LaBeouf as The Artist as a Young Man and Robert Downey, Jr. as The Artist circa 2006. Also A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints is notable for being perhaps the most pro-gentrification movie I've yet seen - witness Astoria transformed from an open sewer overrun by street gangs of feral teens to a clean, quiet neighborhood where people have choices beyond escape, death, and stagnation in just twenty years. Ultimately not a bad film, but far from a great one, considering that "Urban Coming of Age Drama" ought to have its own shelf at the Blockbuster; salvaged from file-under-forget status by solid performances by the aforementioned Mr. LaBeouf and Chazz Palminteri as Montiel's old school father. Ninety-eight minutes later I still can't figure out where the title came from though.
