OVERNIGHT

For roughly the first five minutes of the documentary ‘Overnight,’ Troy Duffy comes across as a confident, likeable, rising star. For the remainder of the film, no audience in their right minds can see him as anything but one of the most arrogant, pompous, and cruel villains to ever disgrace a movie screen.

At 25, Duffy sold his first screenplay – ‘The Boondock Saints’ (see review elsewhere on this site) – to Miramax. Included in his deal was the opportunity to direct the film, make casting decisions, have final cut, gain co-ownership of the bar where he works, and have his band write and record the soundtrack. Duffy becomes, for a short time, the toast of Hollywood.

Presented with this gift horse, Duffy not only looks it in the mouth but punches its teeth out one by one. Through his ridiculous behavior (and, it has to be said, the fickle business of independent film), Duffy’s pedestal is chopped down inch by excruciating inch. He loses half his budget. He loses his record deal. He alienates movie stars, record label heads, his band, his own family, and surely countless waiters, waitresses, and production assistants who didn’t make this documentary’s final cut. Duffy ends up with nothing to show for the experience but a lot of lost love and a dvd release of his sole film. His entourage (with the exception of the makers of this documentary) is left scrambling for pieces of what they once thought was a given and a sad story to tell.

There is nothing especially noteworthy about the look of ‘Overnight.’ It never rises above serviceable and at times appears amateur. Instead of diminishing from the film, this actually adds to the effect overall, making us feel as if we’re spying on the goings-on instead of watching ‘Take 11’ of some version of the truth.

As a cautionary tale, ‘Overnight’ probably misses its mark. Any person even remotely as self-delusional as Troy Duffy would never admit that the lessons here apply to them. The film’s true success is in presenting a completely original, repulsive character to the world of film and then, thankfully, making us spend only 82 minutes with the man.

MAYBE SO (7/10)