It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Some of the best documentaries are made almost by chance, where a bunch of unwary filmmakers stumble across a fantastic narrative unfolding. Overnight falls into this camp. Most likely when they started filming Montana and Smith weren't planning on anything but a glowing biopic on their friend's rise to fame, hopefully elevating them along with it.What they got instead was a compelling film about a man who was handed his dream and lost it because of ego and hubris. There are times when Overnight is just uncomfortable to watch, as Troy Duffy alienates everyone around him and becomes more and more reliant on his vastly overrated sense of his own talent. At first he's almost sympathetic, being screwed over by the Hollywood system, but this only seems to aggravate his bitterness and aggression.Stylistically speaking Overnight isn't the best movie: Duffy's descent perhaps starts too soon, leaving us to spend most of the film in the valley of desperation, and at times it can get hard to tell all of the badly-dressed white guys apart. But it's a compelling narrative despite everything else, and the perfect film to watch if you want to see an almost Shakesperean self-destruction.

This is the story of David and Goliath; except Goliath wins. (You didn't buy that story about the sling, did you?) David in this case is Troy Duffy, Boston bartender-turned cause celebre, after Miramax boss Harvey Weinstein snaps up his script, The Boondock Saints, in a promised multi-million deal. Amazingly, Duffy will also direct and his bad, the rubbishly-named 'The Brood', will score, having rush-signed with Madonna's record label. Trouble is, Duffy's ego is easily the match for Harvey's ("There is a deep cesspool of creativity here" he bellows without irony) and he soon, er, displeases Harvey, who dumps the project without a second thought. From this point on it's a study in psychosis: determined to get his movie made, Duffy the duffer alientates absolutely everybody (including the documentary makers) in the face of industry indifference. The punchline? Duffy's finished film is utter guff.

OVERNIGHT follows Hollywood urban legend Troy Duffy, a guy who went from bartender to the "next big thing" in the late 90s literally overnight with a prospective deal with Miramax for his cult script THE BOONDOCK SAINTS. Duffy was a member of a creative group who called themselves The Syndicate and two of the members were lucky (and smart) enough to document this period. They thought they were making a documentary about a unheard of rise to fame but instead chronicled the deranged dealings of an egomaniac unleashed. Some of the scenes in this movie are so cringe inducing (like nearly every frame Duffy is in). How a guy who has absolutely nothing to show for it can ramble on and on about how he is the impetus for all things positive happening and not to blame for anything negative is beyond me. How anyone listened to him after a series of self induced setbacks is even stranger. As the film progresses, the viewer is basically treated to a visual display of career suicide. Filmmakers Tony Montana and Mark Brian Smith are interviewed on the disc and asked why no one ever took Duffy aside and told him he was ruining his big break. They answer that about midway through their experience that they decided the only thing salvageable from this destructive situation would be this documentary. They were right and this is an amazingly candid peak into the world of show business.

Over the course of three viewings I have finally seen this entire film.The first time I started watching this film it was about the halfway point. I caught it just when things were starting to roll for the boys in the band. It was intriguing to see how arrogant and disrespectful Troy was to his band mates and friends. Yet they tolerated his abuse, and plodded on, thinking that there was going to be a big payday on the horizon that would make it all worth it. Eventually, I pieced the rest of the film together over two more viewings, and as one piece it's a doozy.First off, I am so glad someone decided to put a camera on this whole situation. It's seems crazy at times to think that Troy Duffy would say and do all that he did with a camera on him, on what seems like an around the clock basis. I don't know about you, but I have this little voice in the back of my head that tells me not to do things, and when I am on video, that voice gets even louder. Whoever was taping Troy had to have been saying to himself, "one day, this is going to be worth it." This film goes up and down, over and over. One minute Troy is nice to everybody, he's happy, they're getting deals made, or so they think. Then a hurdle is overcome, they celebrate, the deal falls through, and Troy goes ballistic on everyone within arms reach. Rinse, Repeat.I'm willing to bet that Troy has been in quite a few fist fights in his life. There is no way a person can walk around being that proud of themselves, despite not being a very good person, and not find a few guys willing to throw haymakers at him.I loved how this movie brought to light how crazy the lust for fame and fortune can make people. The pursuit of fame and fortune drove Troy to be a major pain in the ass for lots of people. It also drove his band mates to tolerate his behavior. I love this movie, it's tragic and funny, it's sad and true and realistic, but I don't feel a bit downtrodden when I watch it. Even though the film doesn't show anyone but Troy acting like a obvious dick, (he kinda takes the cake for being a dick), I don't feel bad for them at all. The band must have needed him much more than Troy needed the band. Otherwise they would have dumped Troy just as quickly as everyone else did.