U Turn (1997)

Director:

Oliver Stone

Writers (WGA):

John Ridley (screenplay)
John Ridley (book)

Release Date:

3 October 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Expect the Unexpected.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Money | Desert | Small Town | Femme Fatale | Drifter

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Sean Penn	...	Bobby Cooper
Billy Bob Thornton	...	Darrell
Abraham Benrubi	...	Biker #1
Richard Rutowski	...	Biker #2
Jon Voight	...	Blind Man
Jennifer Lopez	...	Grace McKenna
Powers Boothe	...	Sheriff Potter
Nick Nolte	...	Jake McKenna
Aida Linares	...	Jamilla
Sean Stone	...	Boy in Grocery Store
Ilia Volok	...	Sergi (as Ilia Volokh)
Valeri Nikolayev	...	Mr. Arkady (as Valery Nikolaev)
Brent Briscoe	...	Boyd
Bo Hopkins	...	Ed
Julie Hagerty	...	Flo (as Julie Haggerty)

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:

New Zealand:R18 | Singapore:R21 (re-rating) | Iceland:16 | Italy:VM18 | Australia:R | Canada:R (Canadian Home Video rating) | 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 (No. 35464)

Filming Locations:

Coachella Valley, Mecca, California, USA

Company:

Phoenix Pictures

Trivia:

Towards the beginning, we briefly see a sign that reads "Rutowski for council." It's a reference to co-producer Richard Rutowski, who also briefly appears as "Biker #2" around that same moment.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Not only is there a visible line attached to the vulture's leg in one scene, this vulture and all vultures shown in the movie are of a species that does not exist in the United States.

Quotes:

Bobby: It's not just a car. It's a sixty-four-and-a-half Mustang convertible.

Movie Connections:

Features Hung fan au (1995)

Soundtrack:

II B.S.

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.