Customer Reviews

Overnight

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Troy Duffy was on the fast-track to become a Hollywood legend-while working as a bartender, he sold a screenplay to Miramax head Harvey Weinstein, got permission to direct it, and secured a recording deal for his band. Unfortunately for himself, Duffy was an egotistical control freak who insisted on claiming all the glory and credit for the good things that happened to him and assigning blame for all of the bad. This documentary chronicles his downfall as he disrespects and mistreats nearly everyone he encounters, ultimately losing all of his great opportunities.

When I first heard about this film, I wondered if anyone whose actions don't affect the public really deserves this kind of treatment. I was also leery about the honesty of the filmmakers; after all, you could probably make anybody look bad with selective editing. I still have some reservations, but after having seen the film, it's kind of hard to see how they could have edited it to make him look good. He makes some stunningly unkind statements to people to whom he claims to be loyal and seems to revel in the chance to put others down and force them to acknowledge his "superiority."

This film serves as a cautionary tale about how not to treat people. I imagine that Duffy will see this film someday if he hasn't already. I wonder if being an observer will allow him to see his responsibility for his own downfall, or if he continues to see himself as the genius auteur who was brought down by foolish hangers-on and duplicitous studio people.

The documentary Overnight chronicles the manner in which Troy Duffy, hyped-up screenwriter of The Boondock Saints, behaves like a malignant bully toward his buddies, his agents, and his producers. Duffy sees himself as a working-class hero whose genius was discovered by the right people. But what we see, contrary to Duffy, is an overgrown shrieking infant seething with megalomaniacal tantrums, self-aggrandizing fantasies, and paranoid delusions who, alienating everyone, sees himself as an innocent victim. One is tempted to think that the promise of wealth turned him into such a bilious, obnoxious lout, like those characters turned rotten in The Treasure of Sierra Madre. But at the end of the documentary we are given a deliciously insightful quote from Albert Goldman, which sets the record straight:

"No man is really changed by success. What happens is that success works on the man's personality like a truth drug, bringing him out of the closet and revealing...what was always inside his head."

"Overnight" is one of the most hilarious movies you will see in many a moon, but only if you are a devotee of "schadenfreude", that is, the spectacle of a royal jerk getting what he richly deserves. It's amazing how little self-knowledge some people have; apparently novice filmmaker Troy Duffy had no idea how megalomanical and obnoxious he came off to other people. This DVD really does restore your faith that some justice does exist.

There are a couple of mysteries that the film leaves unanswered. One is why Miramax chief Harvey Weinstein dropped Duffy in the first place; another is whether Harvey really did blacklist Duffy's film, "The Boondock Saints". There is an interview with a "Washington Post" reporter who describes Harvey's reactions. Some more interviews with some objective sources, or with Harvey himself, might have added some needed perspective. As it is, "Overnight" is a richly subjective look at the art of self-sabotage. Troy Duffy learned a harsh lesson: you can only act like that in Hollywood after you have made a hit film; not before.

This documentary is about so much more than a character study of one big jerk. It's also about an unspoken exchange by those so impressed with celebrity that they put up with that jerk's abhorrent behavior. Troy keeps his abusive hold on his cohorts, so long as they perceive that they are also on their way to "the big time". You see a look on their faces resembling hapless puppies ...too intimidated to speak up to Troy Duffy, the incipient Director maverick --that is, until his house of cards completely folds. Then normal human boundaries resume and grievances are tabled. That's the other side of the story. That's the sickness of the whole system.

Within a cultural vacuum of values, a guy like Troy really COULD and usually does go far. His only mistake was that he revealed his ego-maniacal behavior too fast to the power-brokers that "made" him.

Again, Hubris like Troy's is alive and well in Hollywood. His is a familiar personality-type that does set things in motion and gets things done. As much as I hate to say it, it's true. Had his gestation into the entertainment world included a modicum of tact, we'd all be celebrating Mr. Duffy today as some sort of American treasure. His story is much closer to the norm, vs. being an anomaly in terms of type.

Interestingly, even after experiencing a promising directorial career turned to shambles, the mechanisms of denial only enlarge. Troy, brimming with resentment for "the system" (a result of his self-inflicted travails), is invited to speak to a group of university film school students. There he presses his advantage and systematically degrades the aspiring filmmakers in the most predatory question-and-answer session this side of the Jerry Springer Show. The result could be comedic, except that you see each innocent soul being laid open like raw meat, as Troy gladly applies the salt. This spectacle includes shots of the bow-tie-wearing, shrinking and silent professor. Once again, all is tolerated because Troy's "been to Hollywood" and that's what's honored.

There's a lot to recommend here as an instructive example of the seedy edge of Filmland's deal-making (and breaking), as well as operant illustrations of sycophantic behavior. It's a cautionary tale.. An old cliche is given new life: Be careful of what you want.

Yes, it's a portrait of Troy Duffy. But what's it like as a film? The answer is that it's only so-so. Troy is a fascinating subject, but the film has almost no context, and it goes on too long. It has a similar setup to that 9/11 documentary, in the sense that the film-makers - friends of Duffy, in the sense that Beast Man was a 'friend' of Skeletor - were originally going to make a straightforward documentary about an up-and-coming director, but disaster intervened and the film-makers ended up making a good egg out of a bad chicken.

You will notice that all the other reviews are actually about Troy, they are not really about the film. The film-makers have not made any other films, and although Overnight has nothing overtly wrong with it, it doesn't really tell us about anything except Troy Duffy. We learn almost nothing about the film he is making, a film which I have not seen, and have no desire to see. A top-quality documentary would have tried to put Troy into context - how did he get a film deal? How was he different from the other, similar, post-Tarantino movie brats such as Gary Fleder ("Things to do in Denver when you're dead") or Alan Taylor ("Palookaville") or a dozen others? Granted, those people are still working today, mostly in TV or direct-to-DVD, whereas Troy is not working at all, and so Troy must have been unusually crap, but it's hard to tell how unusually crap he must have been from the documentary.

The key thing for me is that, although Troy comes across as mindbendingly loud and profane, I was under the impression that all Hollywood producers and directors were like that. It is as if Troy is acting out a part that he has learned from watching documentaries about Hollywood film producers; for someone who had never directed or written a film before, he nonetheless manages to recover from a major setback (Miramax dumps him) and assemble a cast and direct a film which is released. That's more than I have done. We learn very little about this process - how did Troy make the film? Why did people put up with him? If he is capable of alienating his own brother, how did he direct actors? How come Willem Dafoe - an actor with a career - did not tell him to pip off? What stopped Billy Connolly from punching him out?

Troy is like R Lee Ermey in "Full Metal Jacket", in that he is a monster, but he is an entertaining and engaging monster. Eventually he becomes tiring, although there are a couple of memorably extended tirades (he is at his worst on the telephone), and the ending almost leaves you feeling sorry for him. He does have an odd charisma, and at the very least he gives the impression that he knows what he is doing. I can understand why people might follow him, even though he is not a Good King. The documentary leaves me wondering firstly what happened to Troy, and secondly how has Overnight itself affected his career? I only knew he existed because of this documentary, I imagine film producers are fully aware of it. I also wonder why the filmmakers themselves have done nothing since, not even on cable television.

What if your dreams of success, creative affirmation, and financial stability were about to come true? Well, "Overnight" is a cautionary tale of what not to do if you find yourself in this rare situation. There's a difference between a toe in the door and a seat at the table."Overnight" shows flash in the pan Hollywood sensation, Troy Duffy, as the man who never gets the concept.

Troy Duffy is a foul-mouthed, hard-drinking, cigarette puffing guy with no citable academic or career accomplishments. Yet he fell ass backwards into the type of situation people dream about: A movie deal (writing and directing), a record deal, and co-owner-ship of an increasingly popular glitterati drinking/slumming hole. While doing an excellent job of showing Duffy plow into the ground with his engines still pushing harder, "Overnight" fails to capture exactly what event turned Troy's Midas touch into a sewage plant. (Although I can understand that more than one or two meetings with this guy could turn just about anyone off.) The addition of that angle is understandably hard to obtain considering the various players, yet "Overnight" still manages to engagingly chronicle Duffy's briefly rising star followed by his rapid descent into ego-driven self-destruction, paranoia, and sour grapes.

It would be instructive for an "Overnight" viewer to see Duffy's one and only movie "The Boondock Saints" beforehand (the nearly-straight-to-cable effort that he both wrote and directed). The Boondock Saints is a genuinely enjoyable dark violent action movie, and it's particularly amazing when you consider that it was Duffy's first crack at anything remotely cinematic. Overnight briefly shows Duffy on the set of "TBS" working as a director; one of the few sequences when we see him happy, affable, and accessible. It's just too bad that this Troy Duffy completely disappears in almost every other aspect of his life. (Interesting note: The Boondock Saints DVD commentary track lays all the blame for the lack of mainstream marketing of the film on the Columbine shootings - an assertion almost completely erased by the events shown in Overnight.)

One bad play after another, one more verbal exchange carried to the limit. The working class, boozing, smoking, urban toughie cliché carried way to far, way to often. Duffy doesn't burn bridges, he carpet bombs them and screams at the edges. Whether he's alternately toadying, then threatening to play hardball with Harvey Weinstein, or working on his master plan to pit studios against each other to pump up his paydays (almost pathetic as Duffy straddles a 2nd-hand chair in a chintzy primer-coated office while chain-smoking in his bib overalls), or berating his friends and relatives as untalented hangers-on, he displays a supremely misplaced confidence in his own judgment in all matters.

Even as a potential source of information for others, he still can't quite stoop to their level. Asked to discuss his particular path through Hollywood with some film students, Duffy dismisses them as mere dilettantes unable to understand the depths of his pain, the scale of his disappointment at the world's failure to revere his singular genius. (Yes, even in the depth of his sorrows, Duffy's capacity surpasses the conception of all those around him.)

And it is a shame, there was some talent there. At least for a while.

This movie and the accompanying rise and fall of Troy Duffy just goes to show that detached, narcissistic people can come from all social classes. Miramax pictures gives the blue-collar Duffy everything he ever wanted out of life by offering him a bar, a band contract, and the permission to make his own movie. He's got the world by the orbs but somehow he manages to bring about his own doom. Which brings us around to the only thing missing in an otherwise excellent documentary, not enough is revealed about the exact nature of Troy's decline. We are made privy to Miramax's change of attitude towards him but why did they suddenly hold him in such low esteem? What did he say? Who did he torment? I wish I knew. That would have made for a wonderful extra sequence in the movie.

The offensiveness of Duffy's personality is a major reason why this film is so fascinating. This fellow never seems to get tired of listening to himself talk yet he never has anything to say. He loves to pontificate but is work averse. The protagonist offers up a fine lesson for the young as he is proof that nothing good is ever produced by a negative attitude. A toxic personality is warmly received by no one. Duffy is a sadist who tortures his band, brother, and friends by making their life revolve around his. He forces his bandmates to live in poverty just to fulfill his lust for control. His paranoia leaks out onto an audience of students at Boston University, and one almost feels sorry for him due to the fact that those present have to know he's as mad as a hatter. Ultimately, Duffy is an important case study for those wishing to learn about narcissism. He also makes a fine subject for a documentary and I recommend this one wholeheartedly.

As a script writing hopeful, this movie really shows you the no no's of the movie business. If only Troy could have been a more positive person and less of an a-hole, he may have been something. To think that the Boon Dock Saints was slated for a 15 mil budget, shows that that movie could have been awesome. I don't blame Harvey Weinstien for not sticking his neck on the line with that loose cannon.

Wow, arrogance, egotistic and lessons in the way to fail hard tell the story of this guy. Cant help but feel badly for the other talented people this guy brought down. The movie is great, although you will hate and feel sorry for the ignorant fool you blew his chance.

A Boston bartender (Troy Duffy) writes a screenplay with his band supplying the soundtrack and almost overnight, Harvey Weinstein (Miramax) gives him a chance at stardom nobody could ever dream of. Bartender Duffy is portrayed throughout this documentary as a maniac intent on conquering the Hollywood world of idiots and proving that he is a genius of major proportions that will never be appreciated. He is right - he never gets the appreciation he thinks he deserves. It is an amazing film showing Duffy as a relentlessly driven person, who burns every bridge he can, insults every person he can and systematically destroys everything anyone could hope for. His vulgarity and arrogance has no limit and it grows tiresome within minutes. Initially, he is seen as crazy, then perhaps a person with a personality disorder and finally, in the last few scenes as a paranoid schizophrenic muttering to himself in an alley. It is a story of a man who destroys himself and the people around him. Unlike any other `car wreck' story, Duffy and his friends (the band "Boondock Saints") go from very modest beginnings to the heights of Hollywood, the Cannes Film Festival, the Palm Springs Film Festival and eventual destruction. The band's record sold only 690 copies in the first year. This documentary is more of an exercise in portraying a troubled man who unknowingly destroys everything and everyone around him, rather than a band with a film that had a great chance at stardom. Hollywood Babylon, indeed.