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Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Undescribable Perfection

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

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

I have to admit that I liked "Boondock Saints." I liked it because it was a Tarintino without the pretense that because you can engineer violent irony, you can make it engaging. I liked it because I knew that every actor was making up everything with no guidance. I liked it because it was a story of a mess that driven by the mechanics of messness, and that mechanics was visible as the point.Now here, we have the equivalent of "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse." Except this time the genius at the center is a moron who thinks he is a genius. There is a complete contrast from the attractive, nonsensical mess of "Boondock" and the grinding inevitable sense of this: jerk gets his due. It is simply a matter of watching the predictable grind through, with the only mildly interesting elements being a small glimpse into the movie business world. More interesting is the fact that we are watching something. We know that the band deal went sour. We know the movie deal did too. The documentary documents that. But it does not document itself. It turns out that the making of it was part of the deal, first supported out of pride and then out of sheer desperation for some money. The omission of the thing from the thing is glaring, and quite hypnotic.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

I purchased The Boondock Saints on DVD back in the summer of 2002 solely on word-of-mouth buzz from a few friends without so much as seeing a trailer for it, one of only two times I've done so. Like most guys, I liked it immensely and I too passed on recommendations to other friends. I consider myself a pretty avid film buff, so I couldn't understand why I had never heard of the movie's writer/director Troy Duffy beforehand. After some research I finally found a copy of Overnight, and after watching it I now know the answer to that question. This documentary captures with stunning insight and clarity the story of a man who essentially wasted a once in a lifetime opportunity by way of his incredible arrogance and profanely abusive personality. If you were to look up "karma" in the dictionary, you would probably find a picture of Duffy with the definition. The story sounds too good to be true, mostly because it is. Here's a guy who was handed quite possibly the most incredible opportunity for a first time movie-maker in the history of Hollywood, and it managed to come crashing down before it even took off. A script for The Boondock Saints personally purchased by none other than Harvey Weinstein, a recording deal for his band and the purchase of the bar he was working in at the time making him a co-owner: all of these things were placed at his feet. Such an overwhelming reversal of fortune seemingly out of nowhere would be hard to handle for anyone, but instead of meeting the deal with gratitude and humility Duffy instead used it as an excuse to further inflate an ego that was apparently immense even before his incredible run of luck. Friends and family were verbally assaulted, complete strangers were subjected to vulgar tirades and members of his band were denied any credit concerning the group's record deal. In one of Overnight's more memorable scenes, The bands co-managers are told by Duffy that they don't deserve any of the band's profits because they were only there by his good graces and hard work. Through an amusing if not catastrophic series of events, the film deal with Miramax fell through, the band's contract was terminated before they even set foot in a studio and no other studio in Hollywood would even consider making The Boondock Saints. The dream, for all intents and purposes, was over.Duffy eventually made Boondock Saints on half the budget offered by Miramax with a 5 theater theatrical release and the band's album was a resounding flop with less than 700 copies sold. The band's co-managers, once good friends and the co-directors of this film, originally set out to make a documentary of Duffy's rise to stardom but changed their tone drastically once he revealed his true persona. The result is a scathing and often startling glimpse into the downward spiral of a modern day Narcissus undone by his own greed and hubris. Plans for a Boondock Saints II release sometime in 2009 generated mixed buzz on the internet with many people stating the time for a sequel has long passed to have any sort of success. If the sequel does indeed become a hit, it will would be hard to attribute its good fortune to Duffy and perhaps even harder to not harbor jealousy towards him. As Overnight convincingly shows, it wouldn't be well deserved.

** MINOR SPOILERS **This film shows how the perfect opportunity can be destroyed. Troy Duffy is the writer/director who strikes it rich when his screenplay for "The Boondock Saints" is bought by Harvey Weinstein at Miramax. Duffy is going to get an upfront fee, get to direct, have his band do the film score and everything.But, when the film doesn't get made right away, Duffy's paranoia gets the best of him, leaving him on the outs with the studio. Duffy decides to take the film to a small studio, and get it made for half the original budget and for half his original fee.The remainder of the film shows the fate of the film and what becomes of Duffy and his friends.The bottom line is, once you get your deal, be thankful. Be passionate about your project, yes. But, realize that you are getting what so many others out there could only hope to have. Even if there are some bumps or lots of bumps in the process, you have to accept what comes your way. Because, the second you start alienating a studio, you can forget it.After all, would you want someone who you gave a big break to tell you to go (bleep!) yourself? No. Duffy does it, and in his meltdown, loses everything he had or ever could have.The film is well made, well paced and is one of the most telling documentaries on the film industry.( 8 Out of 10 Stars ******** )

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.