Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10570 in VHS
• Released on: 1999-03-23
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 125 minutes

Customer Reviews

"I Love you Grace, but I can't trust you."
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!

A CULT CLASSIC IN A FEW YEARS
This is the fourth time in four years that I've been watching Oliver Stone's U TURN. I admit it sincerely, I didn't like it so much the first times but I kept watching it because there was something in the movie that attracted me. And I know by now that any quality movie deserves more than a single showing if you want to express an objective opinion about it.

There is much to discuss about U TURN's content, arty effects or characters. The movie can also be the beginning of hour long discussions on the homages and the references, evident or more subtle, distillated by Oliver Stone along the road. Take the final scene, for instance. Watch it again with the final scene of King Vidor's DUEL IN THE SUN in mind. The Sean Penn-Jennifer Lopez bloody show takes a totally different dimension, doesn't it ?

So one of the reasons of the cult status gained by a peculiar movie is the pleasure the movie creates with each new vision. Like a classical music opus, the film must never make you feel as if you had digested its entire substance. You must feel unsatisfied, ready for a next showing right after the end credits. With U TURN, you'll be sure to possess a DVD that will outlive the most sophisticated DVD players.

A DVD zone "they don't like it but I do".

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 (Billy Bob Thornton) is a greasy local who dislikes city slicker outsiders and doesn't aim to make Penn's character's life any easier. Our hero also gets mixed up with a cute local waitress (Claire Danes) seeking refuge from her abusive boyfriend (Joaquin Phoenix).

The movie is a day-in-the-life-of look at a strange little desert town with hidden undercurrents and long-standing family secrets. With an all-star cast and plot upheavals galore, the viewing is a full-on thrill-ride. Highly recommended. Also check out Clay Pigeons.