"Overnight"

BY JOHN ANDERSON | STAFF WRITER

November 10, 2004

(R). The improbable rise and inevitable fall of independent filmmaking's megalomaniacal Cinderfella, Troy Duffy. With appearances by Mark Wahlberg, Willem Dafoe, Billy Connolly, others. Directed by Tony Montana and Mark Brian Smith. 1:21 (vulgarity, vulgarity, vulgarity. And Troy's bare breasts). At Film Forum, Manhattan.

It probably doesn't appeal to its audience's loftiest instincts, but it certainly is appealing: Watching an eminently deserving egomaniac get his comeuppance. Yes, it's mean, craven and immature to say it, but that's entertainment!

Troy Duffy, the Boston-bred comeuppant in question, had his 15 minutes back in 1997, when his screenplay, "The Boondock Saints," became the object of a bidding war won by Harvey Weinstein of Miramax. According to the much-publicized accounts, Weinstein paid Duffy $300,000 for his feel-good "Reservoir Dogs"-style story, and closed the deal by buying him the bar he was tending in West Hollywood (the part of the trade-paper stories that didn't quite pan out).

Never having made a film, Duffy also was given the opportunity to direct the $15-million Miramax-financed production of his script. And he proceeded to blow it all, via the kind of egomaniacal meltdown that borders on science fiction.

It isn't pretty, but "Overnight" is as riveting as a car wreck and also establishes its own mini-genre: the revenge documentary. Co-directors Tony Montana and Mark Brian Smith were hired to manage Duffy's band - did we mention he had a band? - and film a making-of documentary about the making of Duffy himself. Never paid, verbally abused and given carte blanche about what to do with the wealth of footage they had, Smith and Montana allow their subject to bury himself with his mouth.

But does Duffy really matter, when all is said and done? Yes. If nothing else, he's exhibit A in the case against the corruption of American independent film, which represents the same gossamer payday to short, fat white guys that the NBA represents to tall, quick black guys.

And even if it makes Weinstein look like a sage for cutting Duffy loose as quickly as he did, "Overnight" is a cautionary lesson against the virulent effects of power, which causes moral lesions on both sides of the checkbook.