Review of Overnight (2003) by Jake W — 08 Apr 2010

This half-baked documentary about "Boondock Saints" director Troy Duffy who worked as a bartender in Los Angeles before he found fame and fortune overnight shows the consequences of suddenly becoming a celebrity.

Co-directors Mark Brian Smith and Tony Montana, once part of Duffy's posse, do everything but defame Troy Duffy and they let their footage of him behaving like a prima donna take care of that. "Overnight" serves as a cautionary tale about what can happen to filmmakers, especially those who are not acquainted with the industry, and the traps that they find themselves in when they don't know what they're doing.

Duffy didn't enjoy the same kind of luck with Harvey Weinstein that Quentin Tarantino did and Duffy's film "The Boondock Saints" almost didn't get made until another perpherial outfit Franchise Pictures came along to produce it at half of the cost that Miramax had planned.

Weinstein paid Duffy $300-thousand for his screenplay, but we never hear Harvey's side of the story. Duffy accuses Weinstein of burying the film. Unfortunately, "Overnight" overlooks a lot about everything that went into the equation.

Well-known actor Billy Zane, Jerry O'Connell, Patrick Swayze, and Emilo Estevez make cameo appearances. Duffy is pretty much a blown-hard. Indeed, he is "The Boondock Saints" rolled up into one and half of this fair-to-middling documentary concerns itself with his musical outfit The Brood and the failure of the group to be successful.

Ironically, this documentary seems incredibly dated since "The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day" has been made and was a hit.