U Turn
by Oliver Stone
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Abraham Benrubi, Billy Bob Thornton, Jennifer Lopez, Nick Nolte, Sean PennDirector: Oliver Stone
Brand: PENN,SEAN
Producer: Richard Rutowski
Cinematographer: Robert Richardson
Producer: Bill Brown
Producer: Clayton Townsend
Producer: Dan Halsted
Producer: John Ridley
Writer: John Ridley
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 125 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1998-03-31
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of U Turn
Movie Review: "I Love you Grace, but I can't trust you."
Summary: 5 Stars
Adapted from John Ridley's (who also wrote the screenplay) novel Stray Dogs, U-Turn is a darkly humorous, hypnotic film noir. Shot on a $20,000,000 budget and featuring an outstanding cast (Sean Penn, Jennifer Lopez, Nick Nolte, Jon Voight, Billy Bob Thornton, Claire Danes, Joaquin Phoenix, Powers Boothe), it's surreal visual quality was due in part to all the outdoor scenes being shot using Kodak 5239's color reversal stock, which intensified colors and tones. When Sean Penn turned down the role due to schedule conflicts, Bill Paxton replaced him, but Paxton backed out a week before filming began and Penn was available again for the movie. Thankfully, Penn accepted the role and ended up giving yet another great performance. Jennifer Lopez got the role of Grace after salary negotiations with Sharon Stone fell through. Lopez couldn't have picked a better role, and she played the femme fatale to perfection!
As the movie opens, Bobby Cooper (Sean Penn) drives into the small town of Superior, Arizona to get his broken car fixed. The only mechanic in town is a greasy hick named Darrell (Billy Bob Thornton, who gained around 50 pounds for the role!), and Bobby has no choice but to leave his beloved "1964 & ½" Mustang with him. Bobby has an overdue gambling debt in Vegas, and has several missing fingers to prove it. He's on the run from ruthless mobsters who'll stop at nothing until they get their money or kill Bobby. Superior appears to have nothing to offer to Bobby, until he meets Grace McKenna (Jennifer Lopez), a sultry vixen who makes seduction an art. She invites Bobby to her house, and he gladly accepts. And while they're kissing each other at her house, Grace's husband Jake (Nick Nolte) walks in and promptly throws Bobby out.
Grace had somehow "forgotten" to mention her husband to Bobby, and he is reluctant to go anywhere near her again. That is, until he hears an offer from Jake, who will pay Bobby to kill the adulterous Grace. Bobby agrees and when he sees her again they drive to a remote location by a cliff. But when the time comes to push her off the cliff, Bobby can't bring himself to do it, and they have sex instead. Then Grace tries to convince Bobby to kill Jake, and Bobby walks away, disgusted with both her and Jake. Back in town he meets even more strange people: Jenny (Claire Danes), a bratty teen who quickly tries her best to flirt with Bobby. Then Toby N. ("People call me TNT") Tucker (Joaquin Phoenix) shows up. Toby happens to be the psychotic boyfriend of Jenny, and at various times throughout the movie Toby will be a source of annoyance to Bobby. Also at various times throughout the movie, Bobby hears words of wisdom from an old blind man (Jon Voight).
To further complicate things, an armed robbery takes place while he's in a small shop, and all his money (which was owed to the mobsters) is lost. He scrapes up barely enough money to buy a bus ticket out of town, and things finally start to look positive for Bobby. By the way, at this point in the movie Liv Tyler has a brief cameo. Anyway, Bobby's chance to leave Superior by bus is destroyed (literally) when Toby "TNT" tucker shows up and eats the bus ticket. Afterwards, Toby receives a much-deserved beating from Bobby, who at this point is ready to do anything to get out of Superior. Bobby then faces the fact that Grace is his last hope for leaving the miserable town, and he tells her he is ready to kill her husband Jake. But Bobby doesn't know the "dirty" secrets that Grace is hiding (including a relationship with the town`s sheriff, Virgil Potter (Powers Boothe), and once he finds out who the real Grace is, it might be too late to escape Superior.
I'm not saying that U-Turn is Oliver Stone's best film, but it's definitely my personal favorite of his. The surreal cinematography, haunting music composed by Ennio Morricone, and the breathtaking scenery of the Arizona desert create a great atmosphere for greed, lust, betrayal, and murder. Unfortunately, the DVD is bare-bones in regards to special features. There's no commentary or documentary, only the theatrical trailer and a brief booklet which summarizes the making of the film. It's really a shame, because nearly all of Oliver Stone's other movies have been released on special edition DVDs. Hopefully, we won't have to wait too long before this underrated modern noir gets the proper DVD treatment. The movie gets 5 stars easily, but this DVD deserves 0!
Summary of U Turn
A small-time gambler with an overdue debt in Vegas and a broken radiator hose is finding it hard to get out of Superior, Arizona.Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: R
Release Date: 3-DEC-2002
Media Type: DVD
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
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