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01/18/08
Self-Medicated (2007)
35 %
Reviews Counted: 34 Fresh: 12 Rotten:22 Average Rating: 5.1/10
Consensus:
Self-Medicated features some nice performances, but is too sentimental and unfocused to be a truly compelling film.
Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins
Synopsis: In this indie drama, a mother (Diane Venora, THE INSIDER) resorts to desperate measures to save her teenage son (Monty Lapica) from his addiction to drugs. Lapica makes his acting, screenwriting, and directorial debut with this award-winning film.... [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Diane Venora, Monty Lapica, Michael Bowen, Greg Germann, Matthew Carey
Director: Monty Lapica
Screenwriter: Monty Lapica
Producer: Tommy Bell, Monty Lapica
Composer: Anthony Marinelli
Screenwriter: Monty Lapica
Producer: Tommy Bell, Monty Lapica
Composer: Anthony Marinelli
Reviews
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09/08/07
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09/06/07
A more seasoned writer would steer clear of false, assembly-line contrivances.
09/05/07
It's a personal story that feels like it's been constructed from other movies.
09/01/07
There are nice touches, particularly in Venora's performance and Timothy Kendall's editing, but the film's maudlin edge illustrates the dangers of directing your own material.
08/31/07
Though the script and storytelling could have used more polish, Lapica's honesty provides the lasting impression.
08/31/07
Monty Lapica's Self-Medicated is a powerful, personal piece of independent filmmaking
08/31/07
Lapica's lack of distance from his story is both the film's strength and its weakness.
08/31/07
Note to fledgling directors: when making a movie, you don't have to do everything yourself. In fact, you probably shouldn't.
08/31/07
Self-Medicated must have been cathartic for writer-director-producer-star Monty Lapica to make, but its therapeutic value for audiences is questionable.
08/31/07
Top Critic
Heartfelt it clearly is. Disciplined and focused on what's truly intriguing about the story, not so much.
08/31/07
On the basis of this film, Monty Lapica, at 24, has a career ahead of him as a director, an actor or both. He also has a life ahead of him, which the film does a great deal to make clear.
08/31/07
Top Critic
The movie slides toward melodrama with some stale business about the hero spreading his late father's ashes and an embarrassing sequence in which a homeless man washes Lapica's car, delivers a benediction, and magically disappears.
08/31/07
It’s a precocious performance, although one with melodramatic moments that prevent Lapica from entirely dispelling the specter of vanity self-casting.
08/31/07
Lapica's debut impresses with its strong, clear voice and desire to tell a very personal story not just of substance abuse but of that abuse's painful root cause.
08/31/07
Even when it is inelegant, Self-Medicated is a compelling small-scale drama, and Lapica is a talent to watch.
08/31/07
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