If you're a fan of movies at all, by this time you've probably seen anything worth seeing. The same quality movies hang on as long as they can, based on Oscar hopes, and the rest of the screens are taken up with new releases of so-so mediocre movies that have been purposely dumped in this dead zone time. Soon enough, multiplexes will fill with the big budget summer gems (this used to kick off no earlier than Memorial Day, but has now inched all the way up to the beginning of May), but until then you are left in this pre-summer dumping ground down time. That's where your DVD player comes in. Now you can catch up on all those smaller movies that came and went before you had a chance to get yourself over to the one theatre that was showing them. One of particular interest is A GUIDE TO RECOGNIZING YOUR SAINTS. This low budget feature played the Century in the fall, but never really caught on, which is a shame, as it is the first picture from writer director Dito Montiel, which is based on his book of the same name. Chronicling one hot summer in Astoria, New York in the 1980s, this is a coming of age tale of Dito, played by Shia LaBeouf, and then also a coming to terms with your past story, as Robert Downey, Jr. plays the present day grown up Dito, revisiting his parents for the first time since he left for California. Dianne Wiest does her dependable best as Dito's loving mom, while Chazz Palminteri offers a very convincing portrait of a dad who is conflicted and loving and regretful. Much of the first two thirds of the story concentrates on the 1980s, with LaBeouf and pals (including Channing Tatum, from SHE'S THE MAN) just hanging out, causing trouble, goofing off, and passing the time. When Dito befriends Michael, a new transfer student from Scotland, who has more on his mind than throwing knives and jumping subway turn styles, a fire is lit within young Dito, who begins to dream of something more, which scares his father. The story meanders along at first, leading viewers to, at first, suspect that it doesn't know where to go. But, Montiel wisely allows the surroundings to become a character in the movie, along with all of the supporting characters. Eventually, all comes together as bad blood, bad accidents, and bad hair create an emotional climax, with Eric Roberts mysteriously and aptly showing up in a quick cameo. This is fine character driven stuff, and plays out perfectly at home on your TV. Seek it out.