U Turn (1997)

Director:

Oliver Stone

Writers (WGA):

John Ridley (book)
John Ridley (screenplay)

Release Date:

3 October 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Sex. Murder. Betrayal. Everything that makes life worth living.

Plot:

A drifter becomes entangled with a femme fatale and her husband after his car breaks down in their small Southwest town.

Plot Keywords:

Violence | American Southwest | Bad Luck | Bizarre | Corpse

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Sean Penn	...	Bobby Cooper
Nick Nolte	...	Jake McKenna
Jennifer Lopez	...	Grace McKenna
Powers Boothe	...	Sheriff Virgil Potter
Claire Danes	...	Jenny
Joaquin Phoenix	...	Toby N. Tucker a.k.a. TNT
Jon Voight	...	Blind Man
Billy Bob Thornton	...	Darrell
Abraham Benrubi	...	Biker #1
Richard Rutowski	...	Biker #2
Aida Linares	...	Jamilla
Sean Stone	...	Boy in Grocery Store
Ilia Volok	...	Sergei
Valeri Nikolayev	...	Mr. Arkady (as Valery Nikolaev)
Brent Briscoe	...	Boyd

Also Known As:

Stray Dogs (USA) (working title)
U Turn - Ici commence l'enfer (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, sexuality and language.

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

France | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Australia:MA (TV rating) | New Zealand:R18 | Iceland:16 | Singapore:R21 (re-rating) | Italy:VM18 | Australia:R | Canada:R | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Germany:18 (nf) | Hong Kong:III | Netherlands:16 (video premiere) | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:R(A) | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Coachella Valley, Mecca, California, USA

Company:

Canal+ Droits Audiovisuels

Trivia:

The town of Superior, Arizona, actually exists and has also been the filming location for The Prophecy (1995), starring Christopher Walken.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Towards the very end, the camera and crew are reflected in an extreme close-up of Grace's eyes.

Quotes:

Blind Man: It's the desert that makes you crazy. The loneliness out here. Nobody to talk to. People on the run.

Movie Connections:

References Greed (1924)

Soundtrack:

LONESOME TOWN

Modern noir with a dark twist...

Brilliant & hallucinatory cinematography, impeccable use of music, and a handful of dark, edgy character sketches all work together very nicely to make this bleak, dark-humoured desert noir an overlooked highlight of Oliver Stone's career. The highly evocative atmosphere plays out against the Arizona desert in a way that (in addition to foreshadowing some of the work done in Terry Gilliam's own twisted little masterpiece 'Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas') seems to mirror, in a more subtle and tasteful manner, much of Stone's work in 'Natural Born Killers'. However, rather than hitting us over the head with whatever socially charged 'message' he may have been attempting to convey in that film, here he is simply content to let it build up a thick and steamy ambience that moves our hapless comrades on towards their own impending personal apocalypse. Nick Nolte, Sean Penn, and Jennifer Lopez all turn in great performances and Billy Bob Thornton's eccentric character sketch elevates what may be defined as a bit part to a far more relevant status. Modern noir with a few dark twists and a taste all it's own that's well worth digging into...for those who have a taste for this kind of thing, if you know what I mean.