Based on the autobiographical novel by Dito Montiel, the author wrote and directed this film based on his life and memories. The film jumps back and forth in time between the past and the present connecting the two and giving glimpses of the lives of the people around the author as he perceived them. At times dark and violent, you are dragged along as the author seeks to make peace with the trauma from his childhood.

Robert Downey Jr. portrays the author as an adult as he goes back home for the first time to face his dying father and the friends he abandoned after he left NY for California. His portrayal was straight-forward RDJr and you had to wonder if Montiel is really that way and chose Downey for the part, or if Downey just couldn’t let his own self go in portraying the character. Shia LaBeouf who plays the author as a teen did a much more believable job of transforming himself into a character unlike what we’ve seen in previous roles. Nice performances by Chazz Palminteri, Rosario Dawson, Dianne Wiest and Channing Tatum round out the main cast.

This isn’t a film that is designed to make you feel good or to give you any insight or answers. Instead it’s a look at a period of time, the memories of one man, and his struggle to reconcile his past with his present.

4 out of 5 stars