Dito Montiel's semi-autobiographical film about growing up in the rough New York neighbourhood of Astoria is interestingly constructed, catching the flavour of remembered youth with a mixture of sentiment and revulsion. For those of us who have been unfortunate enough to see 'Transformers', the film offers the surprise discovery that Shia La Beouf can act; Chazz Palminteri, a mainstay of films of this sort, here resembles Richard Nixon, while there's also an authentic Glaswegian in the cast. The movie isn't bad, but watching it mostly made me glad of my own safe, middle-class upbringing, far away from the city's mean streets.
