One of the most anticipated movies of the festival, "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints," premiered to a solid reception Friday afternoon at the Park City Racquet Club. Written and directed by Dito Montiel, the film stars Robert Downey Jr. as a middle-aged writer revisiting the tough Queens neighborhood of his youth after a 15-year absence.
Downey subverts his usual high-wattage screen charm to play an emotionally shuttered man tormented by the troubled past he left behind. The film also stars Rosario Dawson, Shia LaBoeuf, Chazz Palminteri and Dianne Wiest.
Afterwards, Montiel and producer Trudie Styler brought the cast forward for questions from the audience, although Styler's husband Sting remained seated in the third row, partially hidden under a ski cap.
Downey Jr., looking relaxed and jovial in a woolen cap and goatee, seemed content to hang in the rear of the pack of actors onstage, letting Montiel do most of the talking. When an audience member finally asked Downey a question, about whether he plotted his character's arc, the actor leaned into the microphone and blurted only, "No."
— Brandon Griggs