8.01.2005

A Crash Course in What Not To Do When You Get Your Big Movie Deal

Yesterday, in recovery from Literary Karaoke and the twelve beers it takes me to get up in front of people I don't know and sing Journey, I rented four movies, including a documentary called Overnight.

It's a pretty interesting movie about this guy Troy Duffy who was supposed to be the new Quentin Tarantino. He signed this deal with Miramax in 1997 to direct a movie he'd written called The Boondock Saints. It was a big deal because part of the agreement was that his band, The Brood, would provide the soundtrack, Duffy would direct, and they also bought him the bar where he was bartending at the time.

A great story, and then it all started to fall apart immediately. Turns out that the main thing you shouldn't do if you sign a deal like that is piss off Harvey Weinstein, which this cat apparently did, which led to the demise of the deal with Miramax and a related deal for the band on Maverick records.

The movie follows along while all this is happening, and it's pretty fascinating to watch this guy, who does seem bright and fearless and charismatic, and must have at the very least written a really good script, become this total tool who kind of reminds you of The Office's David Brent on steroids -- arrogant, opinionated, self-aggrandizing, condescending, prone to screaming outbursts, you get the idea.

The thing is he eventually made the movie and it was a pretty big success on DVD and video. Hard to tell whether its any good from the reviews in IMDB. I haven't seen it. Have you?

2 comments:

Dan said...

I've seen it. It's pretty good - dark, gritty, and Irish, which are the three basic qualities I look for in all of my entertainment.

Speaking of which, you seem to have a preference for people (I wanted to use the word character, but these are actual people) who are "arrogant, opinionated, self-aggrandizing, condescending, prone to screaming outbursts" considering this post and your love of beauty industry superstar Jonathan and his show Blowout.

TMC said...

I saw Overnight a few months ago when our student theater at Iowa showed it. In addition to not pissing off Harvey Weinstein, you have to be sure not to totally lose your mind.

I saw that film because I've seen Boondock Saints twice, and both times I found it to be a very solid movie. Plus it's got the Scottish guy from the final seasons of Head of the Class, and Willem Defoe doing
his usual solid work.

I was surprised, though, that the guy got such a ridiculously awesome deal, because, as much as I like the movie, it's not like it's the best movie of all time or anything.

Anyway, I recommend both films mentioned in Dave's post. That's the point, I think.