Troy Duffy seemed to have it all going for him in 1999. He was a bartender whose script had been chosen to be made into a Hollywood film with a $50 million budget with some relatively well known actors. After fate conspired to send the film directly to DVD, The Boondock Saints found a new life and marched itself to cult status. After a long rumored sequel to the cult film was shelved due to lack of financing, Duffy’s fate seems to leave him merely being the brains behind a great cult film. Can he save his career and begin a legacy of his own, or is he doomed to show off the film he made while making martinis?
1) What Put Him on the Map?
Troy Duffy burst onto the film-making scene with the crime thriller The Boondock Saints in 1999. While the events of the Columbine High School Massacre would send the film quickly to DVD it was hard to contain the film to limited reviews.
Featuring a story about two brothers giving divine justice to the criminal underworld on commands from the Almighty himself, Duffy crafted a violent action film that was clever enough to build a strong word of mouth following. Having earned enough rentals and sales of an original bare bones DVD to justify a brand new Special Edition DVD release earlier this year.
What made The Boondock Saints such a breath of fresh air at the time was its ability to ruthlessly parody the crime genre while being a great crime film. Following in the path of Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, Duffy exploited the rules and trademarks of the genre with some wit while crafting a story about divine justice and the ethical complications derived from it. Equal parts dark humor and over the top action, Duffy had a unique story-telling style that has yet to be duplicated quite as sucessfully.
2) Crap They’ve Done Since
Duffy’s sole directorial credit is still The Boondock Saints seven years after its initial release.
3) What You Think They Can Do To Be Successful Again?
Part of telling the story of the film seems to be taking into account Duffy’s own behavior towards Hollywood. A relative newcomer, Duffy seemingly went out of his way to make himself persona non grata with nearly anyone who is anyone in the industry. His reputation, more or less, is what is credited with killing the sequel, rumored to be entitled The Boondock Saints: All Saints Day. For the whole story, one would be advised to track down Oversight.
What can Duffy do to be successful again? Outside of being able to convince someone to finance a picture he’s behind the helm of, there doesn’t seem to be much future for his career as a director. Being able to do something, anything, perhaps might be his way to be successful again.
