Self Medicated

Last updated
Self Medicated
Self-Medicated Final Poster.jpg
Theatrical poster
Directed byMonty Lapica
Written byMonty Lapica
Produced by
  • Thomas (Tommy) Bell
  • Monty Lapica
Starring
CinematographyDenis Maloney
Edited byTimothy Kendall
Music by Anthony Marinelli [1]
Distributed by THINKFilm
Release dates
  • June 2005 (2005-06)(CineVegas International Film Festival)
  • August 31, 2007 (2007-08-31)(United States)
Running time
107 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Self Medicated is a 2005 American teen drama film written, directed by and starring Monty Lapica. [2] Based on actual events in Lapica's life, the film is about a troubled teenager whose mother has him kidnapped at age 17 by a private company and forcibly committed to a locked-down psychiatric institute. Lapica was not originally going to star in the film. According to the subsequent documentary, The Making of Self-Medicated (2007), he did so after casting calls failed to produce a suitable candidate. [3]

Contents

Plot

On the edges of Las Vegas, 17-year-old Andrew's life is spiraling out of control. Unable to cope with the loss of his father, Andrew's descent into drugs and violence is gaining momentum, and the once promising young man is now headed for self-destruction.

Andrew's mother, helpless to control her son and fighting an addiction of her own, refuses to watch idly as her only child destroys himself. As a last resort, she hires a private company to forcibly kidnap and confine him in a locked-down and corrupt psychiatric hospital. As Andrew is subjected to the secret physical and emotional abuses of the program something inside him is re-awakened. He must somehow get free to save what's left of his life, but to do that, he knows he must first face his own demons head-on.

Cast

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Self-Medicated has a score of 37% based on 38 reviews. The critics’ consensus reads, "Self-Medicated features some nice performances, but is too sentimental and unfocused to be a truly compelling film." [4]

The Hollywood Reporter said there was "a raw, unmannered intensity in Lapica's performance sets the requisite tone for the entire production. Self- Medicated is just what the doctor ordered.", [5] and Variety said the film was "a searing portrait of an out-of-control youth . . . strong acting from all quarters and an especially blistering performance from Lapica. Packs a startling punch!" [6]

After complimenting the musical score by Anthony Marinelli and cinematography by Denis Maloney, Jeannette Catsoulis writes for The New York Times , "When the institutional 'abuses' promised in the press notes fail to materialize (unless you count enforced standing and essay writing), the story becomes a monotonous loop of escape and recapture." [1]

Release

The film was theatrically released on August 31, 2007 in 15 markets, including New York City, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Boston, San Diego, Chicago, San Francisco, Denver, Portland, Seattle, Indianapolis, Phoenix, Austin, and Las Vegas.

Awards

The film has toured the festival circuit extensively, collecting 39 awards. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Life and Debt</i> 2001 film by Stephanie Black

Life and Debt is a 2001 American documentary film directed by Stephanie Black. It examines the economic and social situation in Jamaica after globalization, and specifically how the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank's structural adjustment policies have impacted the island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susanne Bier</span> Danish film director

Susanne Bier is a Danish filmmaker. Bier is the first female director to receive an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a European Film Award, collectively.

<i>American Blackout</i> 2006 film by Ian Inaba

American Blackout (2006) is a documentary film directed by Ian Inaba. It premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. The film chronicles the 2002 defeat, and 2004 reelection, of Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney to the U.S. House of Representatives; it also discusses issues surrounding alleged voter disenfranchisement and the use of voting machines in both the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections.

<i>Brother to Brother</i> (film) 2004 American film

Brother to Brother is a 2004 film written and directed by Rodney Evans. The film debuted at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, where it was awarded with the Special Jury Prize for Dramatic Feature. It went on to play the gay and lesbian film festival circuit where it collected many top festival awards. Brother to Brother was given a limited theatrical release in November 2004.

The Australian International, or AI, was a Melbourne festival held in 2006.

The Santa Fe Film Festival is a non-profit organization which presents important world cinema that represents aesthetic, critical, and entertainment standards highlighting New Mexican film. The organization partners with educational groups, schools, and other non-profits to provide a forum for filmmakers, critics, educators, and historians. The award is in the form of a mounted original sculpture. The festival has been listed as one of the top independent film festivals in the United States.

<i>Opera Jawa</i> 2007 film

Opera Jawa is a 2006 Indonesian-Austrian musical film directed by Garin Nugroho that features traditional Javanese classical music and dance in a setting of opera that is inspired by the "Abduction of Sita" episode from the Ramayana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flavio Alves</span> Brazilian writer, screenwriter, and film director

Flavio Pimenta Alves is a Brazilian writer, screenwriter, and film director resident in America since 1998. His movies consistently feature elderly characters as protagonists. He is best known for the film The Garden Left Behind starring Michael Madsen, Ed Asner and Carlie Guevara.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marshall Curry</span> American film director (born 1970)

Marshall Curry is an Oscar-winning American documentary director, producer, cinematographer and editor. His films include Street Fight, Racing Dreams, If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, Point and Shoot, and A Night at the Garden. His first fiction film was the Academy Award-winning short film The Neighbors' Window (2019).

<i>Skills like This</i> 2007 film

Skills like This is a 2007 comedy film directed by Monty Miranda, written by Spencer Berger and distributed by Shadow Distribution released theatrically on March 20, 2009. The DVD released on November 17, 2009 and the Premium Cable premiere on Starz and Starz On Demand 1.1. 2010. It stars Berger, Gabriel Tigerman, Kerry Knuppe and Brian D. Phelan.

<i>In Memory of My Father</i> American independent film made in 2005

In Memory of My Father is a 2005 American black comedy film written and directed by Chris Jaymes. It stars Jeremy Sisto, Judy Greer, Matt Keeslar, Christine Lakin, Pat Healy, and Jaymes. The film had its world premiere at CineVegas in June 2005 and won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Film. The film was distributed by the Sundance Channel and Scanbox Entertainment.

Monty Miranda is an American film director. His first feature film, Skills Like This, won the Best Narrative Feature Audience Award at the SXSW Film Festival. The film released theatrically on March 20, 2009, on DVD November 17, 2009 and premiered on Starz on December 31, 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dylan Verrechia</span> Barthélemois film director, screenwriter and producer

Dylan Verrechia is a Barthélemois award-winning film director, auteur, screenwriter, director of photography, and producer. He grew up in Saint Barthélemy, French West Indies, bedridden with severe ankylosing spondylitis for many years. At age twelve, he was sent to Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in France. He then started correspondence courses from the National Centre for Distance Education. After the national service, Verrechia studied Cinema at Paris Nanterre University taught by Jean Rouch from la Cinémathèque française. He graduated with honors in Film & TV from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, and became soon after a U.S. citizen. Verrechia is a director of Mexican cinema, and his films have won awards worldwide.

<i>Crime After Crime</i> (film) 2011 American film

Crime After Crime is a 2011 award-winning documentary film directed by Yoav Potash about the case of Deborah Peagler, an incarcerated victim of domestic violence whose case was taken up by pro bono attorneys through The California Habeas Project.

<i>Gimme the Loot</i> (film) 2012 film

Gimme the Loot is a 2012 American comedy film written and directed by Adam Leon. The film competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. It won the Grand Jury Prize at the SXSW Film Festival in 2012. It was released on March 22, 2013, in the U.S.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Haigh</span> English filmmaker

Andrew Haigh is an English filmmaker. He is best known for writing and directing the films Weekend (2011), 45 Years (2015), Lean on Pete (2017), and All of Us Strangers (2023). He also wrote and directed the HBO series Looking (2014–2015) and its film sequel Looking: The Movie (2016), as well as the BBC Two limited series The North Water (2021).

<i>Searching for Sugar Man</i> 2012 film by Malik Bendjelloul

Searching for Sugar Man is a 2012 documentary film about a South African cultural phenomenon, written and directed by Malik Bendjelloul, which details the efforts in the late 1990s of two Cape Town fans, Stephen "Sugar" Segerman and Craig Bartholomew Strydom, to find out whether the rumoured death of American musician Sixto Rodriguez was true and, if not, to discover what had become of him. Rodriguez's music, which had never achieved success in his home country of the United States, had become very popular in South Africa, although little was known about him there.

<i>Finding Vivian Maier</i> 2013 American film

Finding Vivian Maier is a 2013 American documentary film about the photographer Vivian Maier, written, directed, and produced by John Maloof and Charlie Siskel, and executive produced by Jeff Garlin.

The Toronto International Film Festival Best Canadian Discovery Award is an annual film award, presented by the Toronto International Film Festival to a film judged to be the best Canadian first or second feature film by an emerging Canadian director.

<i>When I Walk</i> 2013 Canadian film

When I Walk is a 2013 autobiographical documentary film directed by Jason DaSilva. The film follows DaSilva during the seven years following his diagnosis of primary progressive multiple sclerosis. When I Walk premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, won Best Canadian Feature Documentary at the 2013 HotDocs Film Festival, and won an Emmy for the News & Documentary Emmy Award.

References

  1. 1 2 Catsoulis, Jeanette (30 August 2007). "Self-Medicated (2005) A Teenager in Search of a Soul". The New York Times . Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  2. ↑ Southern, Nathan (2016). "Monty Lapica: Full Biography". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  3. ↑ "The Making of Self-Medicated (Part 1 of 7)". YouTube.com. SelfMed. Retrieved 5 November 2015.[ dead YouTube link ]
  4. ↑ "Self Medicated". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  5. ↑ Rechtshaffen, Michael (15 July 2005). "Self-Medicated". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  6. ↑ Chang, Justin (4 July 2005). "Review: 'Self-Medicated'". Variety . Archived from the original on October 20, 2007. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  7. ↑ "Self Medicated". selfmedicated.com. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.