Imagine the worst after-school special; add profanity and poor acting by has-been actors and lame debuts. Don’t waste your money/time on this. I don’t care if it is a true story. It was neither informative nor entertaining.
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It was poorly acted and directed. The script wasn't too bad but the other two turned it sour. The deliveries of lines were at times comical. I actually walked out the theater and asked the other two I was with if it was supposed to a comedy instead of a drama. And in the end it was all against those programs? What the hell? It was pretty over the top too. At places it seemed as if it was simply just going for shocking and "Oh *beep* no way" awes.
Too bad.
I got into a free advance screening here in Vegas to see it. I felt bad laughing out loud during the movie. But I really wasn't the only one.
Wherever. Whatever. Have a nice day.
Hmm. Cameron, someone was laughing at a advance screening I went to in Vegas, also. What theater did you go to? I went to the Regal Colonade by Green Valley Ranch.
But yeah the movie kind of sucked.
Eh, Signatures Suck.
Oh sorry.
Regal Village Square over on sahara and fort apache.
Wherever. Whatever. Have a nice day.
Guys,
Before you leave posts like this, you might consider the amount of work and heart hundreds of people poured into this film. We're talking about tens of thousands of man hours and probably three or four years for the writer director. All so that you guys could take two minutes to take a steaming dump all over it. Many people have been deeply affected by this film. You may not be one of them, but before you go ripping it to shreds, keep in mind that people who make things mean a hell of a lot more to this world than people who tear them down.
That's why they are ripping it to shreds. If it takes that long to make a movie. You should expect something better.
The crew probably don't care, their getting paid.
also the director/writer/actor seems very self conscience in order to write direct and act in a movie about what happened to him
If he really cared about this movie he would have found a better actor to play the character based on himself
To outposttv: What a preposterous post you have written! It doesn't make the slightest bit of difference how time and energy somebody has put into something. It can still be terrible. It is the nature of art, especially movie art. And where do you get off telling another poster what to write or not write. What happened to free speech, the right to dissent? Get a reality check.
shareHey htwhyppe,
Take another look at the post. I didn't tell anyone what to write. I just asked them to consider what they write.
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... "Self-Medicated" had the potential to be such a great movie... The script was not bad, but the acting was, frankly, very poor.
I'm not sure why the writer/director insisted on playing the lead, even if the events in the film were based on his life. He was not convincing at all as a 17-year-old high school student. A good writer/director would have made the right decision to cast someone much more convincing as a high school student. And also a much better actor.
The "gist" of the movie was good, but I have to admit, I was disappointed (especially because the film had the potential to be so great!). This story about behavior modification centers desperately needs to be told, but I think it could've been told in a much more powerful way through better acting and the removal of some incredibly cheesy scenes...
Just my thoughts.
Just saw it last night at Kendall in Boston and could not possibly agree more. My girlfriend who picked it is of the same opinion. The story might not have been too bad, even though after the meeting with the homeless guy it completely turned into total cheese, but the acting by the director, writer and producer was absolutely atrocious. I simply did not believe his character, so the movie did not move me at all, but made me laugh. It is amazing to think that these things actually happened to him because to me he looked like a pretty prep boy whose real life is as shallow as a board trying to play a very deep role and failing miserably. At the end I was yelling "Cut, cut, cut" because I really could barely sit through the onslaught of cheesy lines and terrible acting.
To the person who wrote about how we're not supposed to trash a movie because so many people worked on it so hard. What are you talking about? It's obvious that you were one of those people and yes, criticism hurts, but that's life, man. You make something that is *beep* and people will criticize it. We, as paying movie goers are completely entitled to our opinions. If it were good we'd be raving about it. It just happened to suck. Definitely one of the worst movies I've ever seen and I've seen a lot.
What is really beyond me is how this utter schlock got 39 international awards. Were these from religious and concerned parents organizations? They were surely not from critics who can tell a total dud when see one.
P.S.
When we were leaving the theater, just as I loudly pronounced, "Wow, that was absolutely horrible!" my eyes met with a guy in one of the last rows that looked very much like the lead character. He looked very sad. If that was really you man I apologize for hurting your feelings, but here's a piece of advice. If you're going to continue making movies at least don't act in them yourself. Tarantino is a great director, but every time I see him act in one of his own films it makes me cringe. So my advice is swallow the pride and self medicate your movies by getting real actors to play the lead roles. Otherwise all your movies will feel like an after school special.
i totally agree. i saw it at the angelika in Houston a few years ago, and i was shocked by the hubris of playing the main character in his own film. Both the script and the acting were terrible.
//Okay Awesome//
Yeah totally agree. It was a big mistake and an act of vanity for that dude to play the lead character one, because he was way too old be a high school kid and looked way to old and two he was a poor actor. And as such the movie spent too much time showcasing how clever and smart the lead character was which in the end made me unsympathetic to him. And although I can really appreciate all that goes into making a film and bringing a production along to this level I did not like the film but good for the filmmaker and what he has accomplished maybe he can learn a lot from this experience and create something better the next time.
There is NO Gene for the Human Spirit.
It seems to be a recurring thing now with some low levels directors who only make movies so they can star in it (Iowa, HellRide for example). It's only an act of vanity, childish at that. I can very well imagine those guys dreaming their movies in their head where they are the hero, like a kid does.
A good director, IMHO, works in the shadow, all for the movie, and accepting that his name will be the last of the opening credits, well behind the actors, usually written in a smaller font (except of course for big time directors ala Spielberg) and somewhat ignored by most of the public (cinema fans excluded, a lot of people don't care who directed the movie and don't know any directors names save for the really big ones)
For the most part I agree but in certain cases where the director can actually ACT and it does not hurt the story or film then I am ok with it. Usually only where the director is an established acting talent prior to embarking on the dual roles. There are many cases where the director/actor is mature and professional enough to pull it off with very good results but this is not one of those cases.
There is NO Gene for the Human Spirit.
It's just such a corny movie. I watch Intervention, and any drug doco's, short stories, etc. But this one, yikes.... it was just awful. Nothing can be learnt from this movie. I wouldnt waste my time. If this was made just to highlight the abuse at this school, then it didn't do it justice. I want my 90minutes back. I don't enjoy having to trash talk this, as I'm sure a lot of hard work was put into it but it missed the mark on every level.
Even if you hope for a bit of raw emotion, you won't get it in this "movie". The bit at the end (for 30 seconds), is the most emotional it gets and even that, i mean, enough said.
I wish I read this review before wathing it. I think i got suckered into watching it because it was released on Blu-Ray, thinking it must be worthwile if they went to that length.
A must MISS!!