Overnight is a 2003 documentary

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 by Tony Montana and Mark Brian Smith. The film details the rise and fall of filmmaker and musician Troy Duffy

Troy Duffy

Troy Duffy is an American director, screenwriter and musician. He has directed two films, The Boondock Saints, and its sequel, The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day.-Movie career:...

, the writer-director of The Boondock Saints

The Boondock Saints

The Boondock Saints is a 1999 American action comedy film written and directed by Troy Duffy. The film stars Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus as Irish fraternal twins, Connor and Murphy MacManus, who become vigilantes after killing two members of the Russian Mafia in self-defense...

, and was filmed at his request.

Duffy is presented as a victim of his own ego, and as the film progresses and his fortunes fade Duffy becomes increasingly abusive to his friends, relatives and business partners. According to co-director Montana, "Troy seemed to revel in the attention of Hollywood's lights and our cameras. Only three times during the production did he ask not to be filmed. It was on those occasions that he threatened us."

Tagline: There's more than one way to shoot yourself.

Plot

Overnight is the story of Troy Duffy, a Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 bartender and aspiring screenwriter who is also a musician in a band called "The Brood," along with his brother Taylor.

At the beginning of the film, Troy is riding high: his script for The Boondock Saints

The Boondock Saints

The Boondock Saints is a 1999 American action comedy film written and directed by Troy Duffy. The film stars Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus as Irish fraternal twins, Connor and Murphy MacManus, who become vigilantes after killing two members of the Russian Mafia in self-defense...

has just been picked up by Miramax chief Harvey Weinstein

Harvey Weinstein

Harvey Weinstein, CBE is an American film producer and movie studio chairman. He is best known as co-founder of Miramax Films. He and his brother Bob have been co-chairmen of The Weinstein Company, their film production company, since 2005...

 for $300,000 and Duffy has been taken on by the William Morris Agency

William Morris Agency

WME is the largest talent agency in the world, with offices in Beverly Hills, New York City, Nashville, London, and Miami. WME represents elite artists from all facets of the entertainment industry, including motion pictures, television, music, theatre, publishing, and physical production...

. Duffy, who had never made a movie or attended film school, will also direct the $15 million film, his band will produce the soundtrack and get a recording contract from Maverick Records

Maverick Records

Maverick Recording Company is an American record label owned and operated by Warner Music Group, and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Company history:...

, and Weinstein will buy the bar Duffy works in, and hire Duffy to run it.

Duffy initially enjoys his new success, entertaining celebrities in his bar, dining at hotel restaurants, and moving into a production office where he holds teleconferences with producers. The movie deal, however, quickly turns sour, partially due to Duffy's own arrogant behavior. Believing himself to be the next power-player in Hollywood, Duffy insults celebrities he dislikes (including Ethan Hawke

Ethan Hawke

Ethan Green Hawke is an American actor, writer and director. He made his feature film debut in 1985 with the science fiction movie Explorers, before making a supporting appearance in the 1989 drama Dead Poets Society which is considered his breakthrough role...

 and Keanu Reeves

Keanu Reeves

Keanu Charles Reeves is a Canadian actor. Reeves is perhaps best known for his roles in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Speed, Point Break and the science fiction-action trilogy The Matrix...

, and Kenneth Branagh

Kenneth Branagh

Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from Northern Ireland. He is best known for directing and starring in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays including Henry V , Much Ado About Nothing , Hamlet Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from...

, whose name Duffy repeatedly mispronounces before simply calling him "cunt

Cunt

Cunt is a vulgarism, primarily referring to the female genitalia, specifically the vulva, and including the cleft of Venus. The earliest citation of this usage in the 1972 Oxford English Dictionary, c 1230, refers to the London street known as Gropecunt Lane...

"), threatens to leave William Morris in favor of a rival agency, and generally alienates both Weinstein and his own production team through his abrasive behavior. Ultimately, Duffy receives word of rumors that Weinstein, one of the most powerful producers in Hollywood, has had him blacklist

Blacklist

A blacklist is a list or register of entities who, for one reason or another, are being denied a particular privilege, service, mobility, access or recognition. As a verb, to blacklist can mean to deny someone work in a particular field, or to ostracize a person from a certain social circle...

ed; Miramax puts the film in turnaround, conference calls are refused, and soon Duffy is without any movie industry contract at all.

Duffy's musical efforts are equally ill-fated. Famed guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter expresses interest in producing The Brood, singling out lead vocalist Taylor Duffy for particular praise. However, in recording sessions with Baxter and producer Ron St. Germain, Troy Duffy is filmed behaving dictatorially and refusing any advice that contradicts his opinion; Baxter expresses concern about the band's heavy alcohol consumption. Renaming themselves The Boondock Saints, their debut CD sells only 690 copies, and the band is dropped from their contract.

Duffy is finally able to obtain independent financing for the film, although it totals less than half of its original forecasted production budget. Boondock Saints is promoted at the Cannes film festival

Cannes Film Festival

The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...

, but all the major American distribution companies pass on the film. The film manages to receive a limited release in five cities, but performs poorly and is pulled after a week, and is released on DVD and VHS. Although positive reviews of the movie begin to spread via word-of-mouth and the film becomes a financial success, Duffy's contract with Miramax stipulates he cannot profit from the film's video sales.

Reception

Critic Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert

Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...

 gave Overnight 3-out-of-4 stars, writing, "[Duffy's] family, we sense during one scene, has been listening to this blowhard for a lifetime, and although they are happy to share his success, they're sort of waiting to see how he screws up. ... So are we."

Comedian Adam Carolla

Adam Carolla

Adam Carolla is an American radio personality, television host, comedian, and actor. He currently hosts The Adam Carolla Show, a talk show distributed as a podcast on the ACE Broadcasting Network...

 mentions Overnight in his book In 50 Years We'll All Be Chicks (2010), describing the documentary as a modern cautionary tale

Cautionary tale

A cautionary tale is a tale told in folklore, to warn its hearer of a danger. There are three essential parts to a cautionary tale, though they can be introduced in a large variety of ways. First, a taboo or prohibition is stated: some act, location, or thing is said to be dangerous. Then, the...

.

On November 18, 2011 Adam Carolla

Adam Carolla

Adam Carolla is an American radio personality, television host, comedian, and actor. He currently hosts The Adam Carolla Show, a talk show distributed as a podcast on the ACE Broadcasting Network...

 released a podcast interview with Boondock Saints Director Troy Duffy

Troy Duffy

Troy Duffy is an American director, screenwriter and musician. He has directed two films, The Boondock Saints, and its sequel, The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day.-Movie career:...

in which Troy argues that the "Overnight" documentary depicts a fraudulent version of what went on behind the scenes of Boondock Saints, and tries to clear up exactly what was going on while the cameras were rolling. Duffy believes the "Overnight" filmmakers misled their audience to make Duffy come across as a "boorish asshole." In the comments section of Carolla's website, many comments about Troy Duffy by Carolla's podcast listeners said that Duffy came across in this interview as badly as he did in the film "Overnight."