Review of Overnight (2003) by Jiana W — 27 Mar 2010

You have to see this documentary to believe it. If you are going into the film industry, especially, but for anyone else even remotely interested in watching a mean person crash and burn... you gotta see this. It's on Youtube.

The moral of this behind-the-scenes look at the film industry? Don't burn your bridges, what goes around comes around, etc., etc. This is a step-by-step "How NOT To" featuring the writer/director of the cult hit, "The Boondock Saints", Troy Duffy.

You don't believe people like this really exist, but apparently they do. Troy Duffy is a pompous, egotistical, mean-spirited, profane quitter and bully who didn't deserve the opportunities he was given or the enormous support and love from his friends and family. If you don't know the story, Troy Duffy was a bartender and a bouncer who worked on a screenplay in his free time. This screenplay sparked the interest of Miramax Pictures and bam!, Duffy and Miramax struck up a movie deal. A very, very good one. And Troy Duffy proceeded to screw it up in the most monumental way I've ever seen. A golden opportunity literally shot to heck right before the viewers' eyes.

You will see Duffy screaming profanities over the phone at the people who are trying to help him in the industry. He touts himself as the best in Hollywood. He screws his friends over, even his own brother and it's hard to watch them try to work up the courage to confront this bully who is supposed to be their friend. We watch as he basically gets so notorious for his attitude that the man who basically put him on the map in the beginning, Harvey Weitman (?), has him blacklisted in all of Hollywood. No studios want to pick up Duffy's film as a result. Duffy eventually becomes unable to get a job as a writer or director in Tinseltown and goes back to the bar. And it's all because of one person: Duffy.

The documentary is a terrific behind-the-scenes look at how this industry works and how not to interact with the people in it. Some may say the film puts Duffy in a bad light or that the filmmakers may have had it out for him... but come on. I didn't see one good thing about this guy except that he was driven. There's no denying that this guy was just a jerk in every shape, way, and form and he deserved exactly what he got. He messed with the most powerful guy in Hollywood and he paid dearly for it. So I liked this documentary if only for its educational purposes for us film industry hopefuls, but also because it shows a genuine turd getting his comeuppance. It's pretty short and it's just really interesting. I would recommend it.