RojoA Guild to recognizing your Saints
I feel that it is my responsibility to warn as well as promote. Too tell you of the mediocre as well of the marvellous and I have just seen a film that on the surface had me going “man I want to see that, looks gritty, looks well written, looks like my kind of flick”.
A Guild to Recognizing your Saints seemed good. Independent film smallish cast, some Indy light-heavy weight actors Robert Downy Jr, Shia LaBeouf, Chazz Palminteri, Martin Compston (watch this cat he’ll go far). A story written and directed obviously from a true tale of one’s past that seemed sincere and captivating. Another Basketball Dairies film but ostensibly without all the rest of the prosaic scenes that so often accompany types of films pretending to be as such. The scenes that only the writer thought were amazing because in his head at the time they were. Though in reality they weren’t the wasp’s nipples as the writer thought.
It is here when a good director should step in a and say “enough, this is gratuitous, not necessary, and to be honest mate it’s just not good writing“.
Well sadly A Guild to recognizing you Saints suffers from this malediction. Even more tragic is that the writer is the director so there are no checks and balances played upon the film. What we are left with is a bunch of screaming Brooklyights screaming and cursing with their thick accents talking about “what the fuck this, and mother-fucking that, and disrespect me you fucking yaaaa, ya mother-fucker ya arrrh, getta outta here ya mother-fucka I’m counting my fucking matches.
But if I cut all that outta here ya mutha-fukarrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I found that I also had another type of film on my hands. I had a Harsh Times (No disrespect on Harsh Times it is great) type of deal.
A film where every scene you are thinking “oh god. What’s going to go wrong here” film. Now it’s just me talking here but films that walk that razors edge of unhealthy anticipation are not good. (Elegant in my terseness as always). The film ceases to be a journey of constant discovery but one of constant dread gets in the way of feeling for the film as a whole because I’m in constant dread for the characters. Yes you could argue that been made to feel this way is a sign that the film is working because I have reached a level of empathy for the characters to allow me to feel this dread and you’re right to a degree. These characters however I never liked and part of the reasons I didn’t like them is because of the impending sense of dread they brought with them. (I must point out I did like LaBeouf’s and Compston’s characters). Though the one’s I did like I could have taken or left.
So having rambled on for this long and successfully not told you anything about this movie (seemingly) I have revealed a lot without revealing anything of the plot I will fill you in on a little bit of it. Dito (LaBeouf and Downy) coming home, past and present, a man found, life lost, love realised, but not. One boys escape. Now that’s how blurbs should go. You should be able to walk into a video store and read just that type of blurb I feel.
A Guild to Recognizing your Saints 6/10
Film & TV on DVD
I was actually blown away by this in a coming of age the "Mean Streets" way.
It still stands as the only Shia La Bouf film I rank, (though I do dig on Holes too) even though he is good in everything he's done.
I was emotionally invested in the characters and I admit that I cried...it seemed very honest. I guess I didn't have that sense of dread that you seemed to have though, more so it just felt like a very rich observation of growing up in that time and place.
The script for me seemed very real and the acting was sublime from all the cast...Channing Tatum and Chazz Palminteri being the other stand outs.
The soundtrack too deserves mention.
Funnily enough I thought Harsh Times tried to hard. Interesting idea that spiralled into the pointless, by the end I just didn't care about the characters and was waiting for the predictable finale. Still I agree it was worth a look for Bale's performance.
Film & TV on DVD
All good, Mr tza Im glad you were able to nail what bugged you in the film instead of just saying it was crap...I do enjoy reading your stuff.
As for teh fucken fucks of teh script, I guess because Ive been around plenty of young people who speak like that the language didn't really get to me, instead it just felt like a further truth of character.
Personally I grew up in the 70's (in a nice neighbourhood) and I know that every second word out of my own mouth in my teens was the same....now I look at it it probably has to do with trying to feel more adult and substituting substance for empty language. Also it made me think I was tough, when I was anything but, back then the word fuck wasn't even in taht many movies so it felt revolutionary...That being said i found the language used captured the way i see growing up in tough neighbourhoods where survival is not even guarenteed.
Also i must confess I love films that fill me with a sense of genuine dread and danger, Frailty and "Requiem For A Dream" would be one that springs to mind immediately...had me on the edge of my seat from open till close. so maybe because of how many "heavy" films I've seen it takes a fair bit for that mood to overwhelm me.