are even beyond putting in a movie that people might find redeemable." In the book, a copy of a newspaper article describing Antonio's escape from Rikers Island has the crime he committed blanked out. Giuseppe The film shows Giuseppe getting killed on a subway track. The inspiration for the scene was a kid named Billy who was "riding" trains when he was killed. The real Giuseppe Ruggeria is a career criminal who was deported to Milan. Montiel describes the real Giuseppe as being like a cat. "The train would come and two seconds later he would pop up." Mike The Scottish character Mike is a composite of a man named Mike O'Shea; a kid named Ray, who used to go to the city with Dito, sniff amyl nitrite and smoke hashish; and Angelo Ruggeria (a younger brother of Antonio) who was later murdered. The real Mike O'Shea is Irish, alive, married, and living in Essex, England. Reception The film made $2,035,468 worldwide. It currently holds a 75% "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Awards and nominations Sundance Film Festival Gijón International Film Festival Independent Spirit Awards Home video release The DVD of the film was released on February 20, 2007 in the United States. References External links 2006 films American crime drama films 2000s Spanish-language films 2006 crime drama films Hood films American independent films American coming-of-age drama films Films set in New York City Films set in 1986 Films set in 2001 Films based on memoirs Films directed by Dito Montiel Films produced by Trudie Styler Films scored by Jonathan Elias 2006 directorial debut films 2006 independent films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films