Richard Propes TheIndependentCritic.com Sep 22, 2020 1.5/4.0

Lapica would have been better off writing this script and leaving it in the hands of a director who could have objectively brought the film's powerful message to life.

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Debbie Lynn Elias Behind The Lens Nov 15, 2019

... Monty Lapica has clearly found a new and successful form of self-medication; the art of film, starting with Self-Medicated. We should all have his strength and conviction.

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Hank Sartin Time Out Nov 18, 2011 2/5

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Melissa Anderson Time Out Nov 17, 2011 1/5

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Michael Dequina TheMovieReport.com Sep 5, 2007 2.5/4

A more seasoned writer would steer clear of false, assembly-line contrivances.

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Richard Roeper Ebert & Roeper Sep 4, 2007

It's just horrible stuff.

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Scott Tobias AV Club Sep 1, 2007 C-

It's a personal story that feels like it's been constructed from other movies.

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Ken Fox TV Guide Aug 31, 2007 2.5/4

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.

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Ted Fry Seattle Times Aug 31, 2007 2/4

It's just a little too simplistic and not a very compelling story.

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G. Allen Johnson San Francisco Chronicle Aug 31, 2007 3/4

Though the script and storytelling could have used more polish, Lapica's honesty provides the lasting impression.

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Jim Hemphill Reel.com Aug 31, 2007 3.5/4

Monty Lapica's Self-Medicated is a powerful, personal piece of independent filmmaking

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Shawn Levy Oregonian Aug 31, 2007 C+

As it stands, the film is more often self-absorbed than self-aware.

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Jan Stuart Newsday Aug 31, 2007 2.5/4

Lapica's lack of distance from his story is both the film's strength and its weakness.

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Elizabeth Weitzman New York Daily News Aug 31, 2007 2/4

Note to fledgling directors: when making a movie, you don't have to do everything yourself. In fact, you probably shouldn't.

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Michael Ordoña Los Angeles Times Aug 31, 2007 2/5

Self-Medicated must have been cathartic for writer-director-producer-star Monty Lapica to make, but its therapeutic value for audiences is questionable.

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Bob Strauss Los Angeles Daily News Aug 31, 2007 2/4

Heartfelt it clearly is. Disciplined and focused on what's truly intriguing about the story, not so much.

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Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Aug 31, 2007 3/4

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.

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J. R. Jones Chicago Reader Aug 31, 2007

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.

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Chad Greene Boxoffice Magazine Aug 31, 2007 2.5/5

It's a precocious performance, although one with melodramatic moments that prevent Lapica from entirely dispelling the specter of vanity self-casting.

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Janice Page Boston Globe Aug 31, 2007 2.5/4

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.

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