MovieChat Forums > Overnight (2005) Discussion > You never really know your friends from ...

You never really know your friends from your enemies until the ice break


I came to know Broondock Saints only a couple of years ago, I don't live in the States so this movie only reached me on Must See movie lists. I didn't know what it was about, or who was the director. While I saw that the movie had a restricted budget I got impressed with a bold and solid direction, the grand style of the scenes, the competent art direction, and how easily marketable the whole movie is. Yet no one outside US knows that this movie exists. I had to know why this movie was so poorly distributed.

So I watched Overnight.

At each moment that Duffy opened his mouth more anger built inside me, I was truly hating the guts of this guy. I was totally "god, this man has nothing redeeming about himself"

But then, I realized that Overnight was edited by his 'ex' friends.

I remember my own entourages and the stories of other people, of how best friends became worst enemies because the ice broke, of how much resentment it created with deep feelings of treason and total lack of trust. Worse, that each one involved holds a personal record to justify their actions for the best and the worse. This movie is all about resentment over Duffy, it is the only thing it truly shows.

The biggest evidence is that Overnight mostly jumps the whole production of the Broondock Saints itself. We see a lot of breaking downs over the failure with Wenstein and the band, but nothing about finally getting the movie done, which is where Duffy could be portrayed as an indie jesus.

If you are not sure of how manipulative editing could be, search for 'Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe - Reality TV Editing' on youtube.

I know that most people would say that would never behave like Duffy, perhaps even Duffy himself would never imagine that he would behave like that. But to get a movie done is a bloody battle and friendly fire happens all the time, especially to naive young people. Yet there is another side of the coin that his old friends (and new enemies) didn't want us to see, probably the side that worked and sold that script, the Duffy's side that directed Boondock Saints and convinced Dafoe to go drag queen and kiss an extra in the mouth.


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Yes this movie was made by his ex-friends (currently) but at the beginning of the film, they were still his friends. Any by beginning i mean like the first 20-30mins. By that time you could already tell Troy was acting like a douche.

And you know what? I've read that those "ex-friends" of his actually didn't include a lot of his anti-semetic,racist, and misogynist comments because they didnt want him to look worse than he already did.

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@therealleemajors I'm sure that his ex-friends would've taken some liberties with editing, but that doesn't change the stupid stuff that Troy Duffy said.

Trash-talking about actors, throwing tantrums on the phone, constantly big-noting himself - none of this is exactly professional behavior, especially for a first-time director.

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Agree.

Two things struck me about the behavior toward the two filmmakers (and who were touted as also being co-managers of the band and as being hired to come up with new projects):

1) Mr. Duffy lectures them (in the infamous 'you don't deserve/you do deserve but I'm not going to pay you' scenes) about they're getting involved for 'the opportunity'.

Is THAT a reason to not expect to get paid for your work?

By that logic, Mr. Weinstein ostensibly gave Mr. Duffy 'opportunity' -- does that mean Mr. Duffy should then not be paid for *his* work?


2) I wonder how much Mr. Duffy knew about filming, handling a camera, editing, etc., prior to this documentary.

He very well could have been using these two to learn that, to some degree, which would have been FURTHER reason to pay them.


Also, regarding 'creative editing' -- There is always going to be *some* editing done of a film. As above poster noted, Mr. Duffy said what he said and in the manner with which he said it. I don't think 'creative editing' made him some kind of ventriloquist's puppet.


Just my two cents ~



"I will not go gently onto a shelf, degutted, to become a non-book." ~ Bradbury

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The biggest evidence is that Overnight mostly jumps the whole production of the Broondock Saints itself.


I thought this stood out, as well...


"Sorry detective. There was a fish... IN the percolator."

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