Self Medicated
Self Medicated is a 2005 independent film based on reallife events from writerdirectorlead actor Monty Lapica about Andrew, a troubled teenager whose mother has him kidnapped at ageby a private company and forcibly committed to a lockeddown psychiatric institute. Monty Lapica was not originally cast for acting in the film, according to the subsequent documentary, The Making of SelfMedicated 2007, the firsttime writer and director was also slated to play the starring role in his own life story after castingcalls failed to produce a suitable candidate.
Andrews mother Golden Globe nominee Diane Venora, 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 lockeddown and corrupt psychiatric hospital. As Andrew is subjected to the secret physical and emotional abuses of the program something inside him is reawakened. He must somehow get free to save whats left of his life, but to do that, he knows he must first face his own demons headon.Reviews have been generally favorable. The Hollywood Reporter said there was a raw, unmannered intensity in Lapicas performance sets the requisite tone for the entire production. Self Medicated is just what the doctor ordered., and Variety magazine said the film was a searing portrait of an outofcontrol youth . . . strong acting from all quarters and an especially blistering performance from Lapica. Packs a startling punch 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. ........
Source: Wikipedia
