Maybe Duffy wasn't THAT bad?

I disagree that it's impossible to capture bad moments from a decent person. That sort of decent person doesn't exist, it's a pipe dream. Find any random person. Capture them over a long period of time, or during times of stress. Pick the worst moments. You can make them look like anything you want them to look like (especially when they are young and naive and don't guard their words). Viola: Arrogant jerk.

In the case of Troy, he had a right to be quite angry. He didn't 'fail to secure rights to back-end sales', as I've heard it put. He was cheated deliberately, and his relative naivety used as a weapon against him. He was defrauded of millions of dollars. Something to become angry about, imo. Do you think a decent person can be captured looking like a jerk, after you steal a few million dollars from them? Better believe it.

Did they mistreat Troy out of envy, like he says?
According to Billy Connolly, and many other members of the cast: YES.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAjm_ChF-Qk&feature=channel
Envy was one of the primary reasons for the attack on Duffy, according to the well-respected, likable and good-natured Connolly. Money, of course, was another. It's easier for them to suffer looking like a cheat, if at least they can convince the public that 'the person had it coming'.

Is the film totally and completely objective? Probably not. But if their purpose was to make Duffy look like an ass, well, let's just say he certainly gave them plenty of material to work with. The most telling thing to me is that Duffy's behavior pretty much stays the same throughout. He displays enormous arrogance coupled with a pretty nasty streak even in the heady early days when it appears all his dreams are coming true and the world is his oyster. And his arrogance and nastiness just increases with the rigors of trying to get the movie made and watching things go south.

I'm guessing the Troy Duffy seen here is a fairly accurate representation of what the guy is really like.



"I don't want any Commies in my car. No Christians, either."

What I got was that things were out of control and Duffy decided he needed to take over and do whatever it took to make it. He came off as an a-hole, but he really was just attacking failure head on. And he succeeded in the end.
But personally, I think he is overly judgmental and thinks his success justifies his actions. He could have acted professionally and done even better, but taught himself that you can be an a-hole and succeed, so why change?
I still love this because there are so many a-holes out there that think they got there by being a-holes, yet the people that are so much better than them did not have to go that route.
I think he actually did have to go this route because it made him stand out. Kind of like Axel Rose, Michael Jackson, and Speidi. The less talent you have or the more washed up you are (or desperate), the more of an a-hole you become to attract attention which puts money in your pocket.
At least that's how it seems.

[deleted]

If you're truly a filmmaker, you'd know that NOBODY would last ten minutes in the business acting like this *beep* does. It's all about relationships, and this guy is obviously incapable of cultivating any, so convinced was he that he was Gawd's gift to films and music.

The guy has done nothing in his career, yet freely insults Ethan Hawke, Kenneth Branagh, and "who's that idiot Jerry Bruckheimer". Seriously?

The most telling moments were with his family members. His mother is seen trying to reign in his most despicable condescending behavior towards his band-mate brother, who, unfortunately seems to be the talented member of the family.

Then even his little brother haltingly hints that Troy is the insufferable, arrogant bully the family has always known, and it's just a question of time before the rest of the world figures that out and he blows the chance he has been given.

Duffy's curse is that he is not an artist at heart, neither musically or cinematically. He's simply an alcoholic bullying douche who wanted to be famous for fame's sake. His pedestrian vision is never more apparent than when posing for the CD cover in shades, trench coats and pitbulls.

And without having actually achieved fame based on performance, he decided to adorn himself with the crown anyway, and treated everyone like he was Henry VIII in the throes of narcissistic dementia, and everyone else in the world from his sensitive brother to Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, were simply his abused subjects.

The quote at the end of the film about success not changing a person, but acting as a truth serum to what truly resides in their soul is telling. Even when things looked good, Duffy never seemed to enjoy it, always raging, always acting like a low-rent Jake Lamotta.

There's not a minute of narration in this film. Duffy hangs himself via his own big, cruel mouth. It would seem it couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Or, as the Guardian UK put it, an *beep* to the power of *beep*

There's an interview with both of the guys that mentions objectivity
http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/Overnight+directors+Tony+Montana+an d+Mark+Brian+Smith/



"Mickey, he y'kn-- he takes a punishment.........I dunno why he does it"

I don't think this is a documentary about someone being bad, I think it's a documentary about someone being deluded. What stood between Troy Duffy and his dream was someone's money but the moment that someone gave it to him he took complete ownership of that success and what followed.

What I took from this was "don't own your success". Remember who you owe.

Enjoy your egg whites.