Review of Overnight (2003) by David S — 29 Jan 2011

It's not really a movie about fleeting success. It's about how incredibly doomed Troy Duffy was (and probably still is). He's drunk on his own Kool-Aid, a situation cemented by the fact that his script got noticed by a Hollywood bigwig.

Once he's "discovered," he starts filming himself and his posse, often to his own detriment. From the very beginning, his superlative comments foretell trouble, and, as we see more of his "process," we realize that he has carefully guarded himself from any sort of negative feedback.

In short, he builds up a myth of his own genius, and his arrogant attitude drives away all possibility of success. His movie and music deals and his relationships with his colleagues are slow-motion car wrecks; despite all this, his movie was good enough to gain a strong following in home video sales after major theater release became impossible.

But because of a poor contract, he made nothing from even that popularity. Overall, a real-life cautionary tale about ego.