Synopsis
Dito Montiel, a successful author, receives a call from his long-suffering mother, asking him to return home and visit his ailing father. Dito recalls his childhood growing up in a violent neighborhood in Queens, N.Y., with friends Antonio, Giuseppe, Nerf and Mike.
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Cast
- Shia LaBeoufYoung Dito
- Channing TatumYoung Antonio
- Robert Downey Jr.Dito
- Rosario DawsonLaurie
- Melonie DiazYoung Laurie
- Chazz PalminteriMonty
- Dianne WiestDito's Mother
- Martin CompstonMike O'Shea
- Olga MeredizAunt Mary
- Laila Liliana GarroDiane
Recommendations
- 90
Film Threat
Downey Jr. and LaBeouf as Dito as well as Chazz Palminteri as Monty are outstanding. Channing Tatum (who I've never heard of) is also amazing as the tortured soul Antonio. - 83
Entertainment Weekly
This gallantly imperfect indie pops with attitude. - 80
L.A. Weekly
It's forceful and alive and spilling over with crazy poetry. - 80
The New York Times
hough the picture is wrenching, at times devastating, it leaves you with that buoyant feeling of having encountered a raw, authentic work of art. - 75
ReelViews
Most viewers will discover this picture - and it is worth discovering - when it is released on DVD. - 63
Premiere
For my money, if I'm in the mood for the kind of aesthetic and emotional experience Saints is selling, I'll just blast Jim Carroll's more concise (and rocking!) "People Who Died" out of my iPod. - 60
Variety
Writer-director Montiel creates a movie of many parts that don't always congeal. Mix this with the many meaty scenes and a roster of often exceptional actors and the effect is one of a fabulous acting showcase more than a wholly finished work. - 60
Village Voice
Whatever the first-time filmmaker lacks in subtlety and finesse--not even the snow-white Sundance Screenwriters Lab could bleach Montiel's script of its corner-deli grit--he recoups by other, more playfully attitudinal means.
