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.
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.