U Turn
 | Directed by Oliver Stone Starring: Sean Penn, Jennifer Lopez, Nick Nolte, Powers Boothe, Claire Danes Sony Pictures, 1997, DVD Customer Rating: 93 reviews Recommend |
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When a broken radiator hose strands a small-time gambler in a desert mining town a treacherous couple draws him into a twisted game with deadly stakes. Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 11/15/2005 Starring: Sean Penn Nick Nolte Run time: 124 minutes Rating: R Director: Oliver Stone
Oliver Stone used such words as "liberating" and "fun" to talk about U Turn's relatively quick production schedule of 42 days. Stone's ideas of film fun, however, are something older generations would call sick. This film is a Southwestern noir tale about Bobby Cooper (Sean Penn), a hotshot who is stuck in the tight confines of Superior, Arizona, when his car breaks down. His subsequent adventure is a meatball comedy — loud, obnoxious, and violent, and stuffed with diffused light, a hot cast, and a no-fat Ennio Morricone score. This film has plenty of odd characters, but you never really find out much about them. Bobby's first encounters include a repulsive mechanic (Billy Bob Thornton under the grease) and a blind Indian (Jon Voight under the makeup). Then there's Grace McKenna (a sizzling Jennifer Lopez), who is as dangerous as the curves of her red sundress. Bobby's got time to kill, and Grace seems more than willing. Unfortunately, it seems that Bobby has never seen a movie such as A Touch of Evil; if he had, he would know it can only get worse. About the time Grace's husband, Jake (Nick Nolte), shows up, Bobby is knee-deep in murder plots and double-crosses.
The first 40 minutes or so are "fun" to a point. Penn is the perfect near-creep to root for, and as he wanders back into town after meeting Grace, the eclectic characters pile up. But soon it gets monotonous, tiring, and just plain ugly. And when incest and bloody fights begin, the fun is gone. If Penn weren't so solid an actor and able to be empathetic in the most morose situations, the movie would be unwatchable at stretches. Lopez makes another good impression, but this is not a performance that stands out. Nolte, raspy and ill-looking, is the Lee Marvin of the '90s. Before U Turn is over, you are already wondering if Oliver Stone will do something else, something more important, soon. — Doug Thomas
Title: U Turn
Sales Rank: 14197 in DVD
Actor: Sean Penn, Jennifer Lopez, Nick Nolte, Powers Boothe, Claire Danes
Director: Oliver Stone
Studio: Sony Pictures, 1998-03-31, Theatrical Release: 1997-10-03
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, Widescreen, NTSC, Acpect Ratio 1.85:1
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed)
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Region Code: 1
Running Time: 125 minutes
Package Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches, 0.25 pounds
- An overlooked Oliver Stone film with a twisted plot and first-rate cast
- Oliver Stone's U Turn is a small town Arizona story with love crosses and plot twists galore. A drifter (Sean Penn) breaks down in the Arizona back-woods and gets entangled with a spitfire (Jennifer Lopez) who wants to leave her twisted, abusive husband (Nick Nolte). The husband, on the other hand, wants his wife murdered. The town mechanic… More reviews
- Ridley + Stone + Penn = serious rock 'n roll.
- U Turn (Oliver Stone, 1997)
I'm a big fan of Stray Dogs, the John Ridley novel upon which U-Turn is based, and I avoided the film for while because, really, how many film adaptations of your best-loved novels actually work the way you want them to? I shouldn't have worried, though; U-Turn is the stuff, most decidedly.… More reviews
- Not Stone's best, but thoroughly entertaining
- Anyone who doubts Jennifer Lopez's acting abilities, as I once had, needs to see this movie. In this movie, she shifts from seductive and manipulating to vulnerable and desperate and back again with surprising ease. Jennifer Lopez can be a good actress when she isn't stuck in a bad movie.
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- Great film noir
- I am not a big fan of Olvier Stone, but this is a great movie with interesting characters and great actors. I don't want to reveal any details and spoil the movie, but it is great if you enjoy film noir type movies. More reviews
- My two-cents worth...
- This is a great, dark, funny, scary, roller-coaster ride of a modern noir B-movie that felt like it was discovered in Jim Thompson's waste paper bin. It might be pastiche, but it's entertaining pastiche. I don't know! Give you people a good film and, firstly, you don't go and see it and, secondly, if you do catch it on DVD, all you do is moan, moan, moan, not… More reviews
