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Reviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
OVERNIGHT
Revenge is well served in this hilarious, jaw-dropping documentary by Mark Brian Smith
and Tony Montana, former managers of a rock band led by
ego-on-the-rampage Troy Duffy. In 1997, this 25-year-old scruffy working-class kid from
Boston became, in his own words, "Hollywood's new hard-on." Miramax Films bought
his screenplay, The Boondock Saints (described as Pulp Fiction with
soul), for one million dollars, with Duffy's band to provide the soundtrack. On top of that,
Miramax's Harvey Weinstein offers to buy the bar where Duffy works as a bartender.
Now a media golden boy, Duffy proudly boasts "If you got the goods, you got the
goods... I surpassed everyone and got to the top." Even before a shot has been filmed,
he has already envisioned the glory that lies ahead. And as for the music, he confidently predicts that "For the first time in Hollywood history, a company will sign a band
sight unseen." When he does finally land a recording deal, Duffy unapologetically cuts
Smith and Montana out of the financial earnings. Little does he realize that not only is he
a flavor of the month, but his expiration date is up as well. Smith and Montana are there with their cameras capturing Duffy's downslide over the course of several years.
The focus is entirely on the business and not talent. No footage from The Boondock
Saints or music from the band's sole recording are featured. Although the
downward spiral and the resulting insight are easy to foretell, this brisk cautionary tale
couldn't be more entertaining. Anyone who has had contempt for celebrities will get a
vicarious thrill as Duffy and his band tell everybody off (behind their back of course).
Weinstein is frequently the target of their profanities. And even more so than 2001's
Startup.com, this is the most lucid portrait of the over-exuberant go-go ‘90s,
when independent film companies were writing larger and larger checks to score the
next big thing. Kent Turner
DVD Extras: The extras are sparse but still manage to give insight
into the worlds of the Duffy brothers and the filmmakers. Most notable is a clip of
the directors being interviewed on the cable program “Backstage by Barry Nolan.” Although
the questions of interviewer Sarah Zapp are not exactly hard-hitting,
Smith and Montana reveal quite a bit about themselves,
particularly when discussing if Overnight is a revenge piece or not. Two
deleted scenes are rather superfluous and only emphasize points made in
the movie: the rest of Troy’s band, the Brood, were relegated to the
background, including his
younger brother Taylor who wasn’t happy about this; yes, there were
famous people in the The Boondock Saints; and co-director Tony Montana
likes to ham it up for the camera. The cast and crew bios provide interesting
backstories, specifically how Troy came up with the idea for The Boondock
Saints and how he met Montana and Smith in the first place. It’s a
wonder why this information is not in the film itself. Molly Eichel
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