#27: Overnight

Overnight
Directed by Tony Montana and Mark Brian Smith
First screened June 12, 2003


Here's something that should start more controversy than anything I'll probably have to say on this blog:

I fucking hate The Boondock Saints. If you've never heard of it, it's a movie about two religious brothers who decide to fight the mob, and less specifically, evil. They are pursued by an FBI agent, who secretly believes they're doing a good thing. Insert fart noise anywhere in there.

The Boondock Saints was written and directed by a lunkheaded prick by the name of Troy Duffy, who was living life as a bartender until he somehow fooled the gods and scored a deal with Harvey Weinstein and Miramax Pictures to direct his pet project.

Overnight is the documentary that was supposed to show his rise to fame, but instead documents his almost immediate decline and fall from the face of the Earth. If you're a fan of schadenfreude (German for "taking pleasure in the misfortune of others"), Overnight might be the greatest embodiment of that word. Really though, there must be another term for it, because Murray is such an unbelievable asshole that a more odd phenomenon would be to root for his success.

Honestly, other than The Dark Knight, I haven't been more excited to watch a movie in months.

As the movie begins, Duffy has just sold his script for $300,000, with Weinstein granting him a $15 million budget and final cut (pretty much unheard of in Hollywood) to make his debut film. In addition, his band The Brood gets to record a soundtrack for the film.

We're not even 5 minutes out the gate and Duffy is declaring himself and his crew of buddies (they dub their new "company" The Syndicate) the greatest thing since sliced bread. Some choice quotes from Murray include references to his "log pile of creativity," his "deep cesspool of creativity," and the classic, "I'm Hollywood's new hard-on." It's important to note that all of these statements come before he has even scouted locations for his film, and before his band has recorded a single note.

Clearly, Duffy becomes far too comfortable with the ever present camera. If you made a drinking game where you had to take a shot every time he said something that could end his career, you'd be dead of alcohol poisoning before the movie was half over. Watch in amazement as Duffy refers to Kenneth Branagh a cunt because he has to leave a message on his machine. Sit in slack jawed awe as he grows more and more impatient with Weinstein, saying, "He wants to be me," or later adding that he and his friends are going to be "pulling some thug shit" on the movie mogul. Try not to shake your head as Duffy screws over his friends and relatives, treating them like shit and telling them in one meeting, "You have to keep your mouths shut, and do your fuckin' jobs."

The humanity just keeps on coming, and none of it ever humbles Duffy. Not the fact that he loses his deal with Miramax, not the fact that The Boondock Saints gets bought by no one at the Cannes Film Festival and opens on 5 theater screens over the course of the sole week of its theatrical run. . . not even the fact that his shitty band sells 690 copies of their debut CD before losing their recording contract.

Just. Awesome.

If you want to see a movie about a total asshole getting the comeuppance he deserves, Overnight is for you. Beyond that, there isn't really a lot to recommend about the film beyond it making you feel really, really good.


For more on Overnight:
- Some info at IMDB, including a bunch of hilarious user reviews.
- The IMDB page for The Boondock Saints


An interview with the directors, along with choice clips from the film: