U Turn (1997)

A young punk drifter heading to Vegas to pay off his gambling debt before the Russian mafia kills him, is forced to stop in a Arizona town where everything that can go wrong, does go wrong for him.

Director:

Oliver Stone

Writers:

John Ridley (screenplay), John Ridley (book)

Stars:

Sean Penn, Billy Bob Thornton, Jennifer Lopez

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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)
Valeriy Nikolaev	...	Mr. Arkady (as Valery Nikolaev)
Brent Briscoe	...	Boyd
Bo Hopkins	...	Ed
Julie Hagerty	...	Flo (as Julie Haggerty)

Storyline

When Bobby's car breaks down in the desert while on the run from some of the bookies who have already taken two of his fingers, he becomes trapped in the nearby small town where the people are stranger than anyone he's encountered. After becoming involved with a (unbeknownst to him) young married woman, her husband hires Bobby to kill her. Later, she hires Bobby to kill the husband.

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Plot Keywords:

desert | money | femme fatale | drifter | small town | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, sexuality and language

Details

Country:

France USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 October 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Stray Dogs

Filming Locations:

Coachella Valley, Mecca, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$19,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£72,044 (UK) (24 April 1998)

Gross:

£72,044 (UK) (24 April 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Phoenix Pictures, Illusion Entertainment Group, Clyde Is Hungry Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Oliver Stone offered the leading role to Tom Cruise who turned it down.

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Goofs

Near the first of the movie, where Cooper's car passes a vulture eviscerating a dead animal, the vulture clearly has a leg ring with an attached band that is being yanked.

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Quotes

Sheriff Virgil Potter: She liked fuckin' her papa.

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Connections

References The Wizard of Oz (1939)

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Soundtracks

"Piss Up a Rope"
Written by Dean Ween (as Michael Melchiondo) and Gene Ween (as Aaron Freeman)
Performed by Ween
Courtesy of Elektra Entertainment Group
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

Black humour of a kind rarely seen in mainstream Hollywood

As usual before adding my two ha'porth-worth of comment, I looked at other comments (including Roger Ebert). And, although I didn't read all of them (there are very many), I was surprised that none I read seemed to pick up what was perfectly obvious to me: this is a very funny film, but done in a deadpan style. So deadpan, in fact, that I'm not surprised that might be news to many. I have, coincidentally, recently been buying up on DVD quite a few classic film noir (Build My Gallows High, The Strange Love Of Martha Ivers) and like everyone else thought that the era of film noir had come and gone and that such films were no longer being produced. Well, blow me if I'm not very wrong: this is quintessential film noir (though done in colour and with the proviso that most film noir is not intended to be funny). It would be pointless to recount the plot, but if you liked all those classic Mitchum/Bogart/Van Helin/Edwrad g Robinson etc films, you will love this. Sean Penn never disappoints. By the way the very final twist in the plot had me laughing out loud. Go for it: you won't be disappointed.