Last night we saw A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints.

It's based on a memoir that I haven't read, directed by the author who also adapted the screenplay. I have the sense that the film is based loosely on the book, as the book itself is mentioned in the film. Robert Downey plays grown up Dito; young Dito is the kid from Holes. My attempt at synopsis is this: old Dito goes back to his old neighborhood twenty years after leaving for California, achieving some level of success and writing the book. He hasn't been back since leaving, but comes back at his mother's request to take his father to the hospital.

There is some interesting interweaving of 1986 and 2006 through the editing. I thought it was pretty good, but kind of spare. I'll see about getting the book, even though I noticed in last week's Time magazine that supposedly the film is better than the book.

Here's the IMDB site.

Here's the official movie site.