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:

Expect the Unexpected.

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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

Billy Bob Thornton gained around 50 pounds for his role in the movie.

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Goofs

Towards the end, some birds can be seen toward a grey and cloudy sky. In the next shot, we can see the sun shining.

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Quotes

Bobby: You're just an ignorant, inbred, tumbleweed hick.

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Connections

Features Rumble in the Bronx (1995)

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Soundtracks

"Speaking Of Happiness"
Written by Buddy Scott and Jimmy Radcliffe
Performed by Gloria Lynne
Courtesy of Black Patch Productions

User Reviews

Dark, gritty and some very nice images

"U Turn" seems to be a movie that not many people have enjoyed and I really wonder why that is. I'm not saying that it was the best movie ever, but it sure deserves better than what most people over here say about it.

The story starts with Bobby Cooper (Sean Penn), driving somewhere in the middle of the desert in Arizona, on his way to pay the bookies that have already taken two of his fingers because he was too late to pay them. His car breaks down and the only option that he has is to leave the main road and to go to a small, dusty town called Superior. In this town live all kind of weird people. A blind Indian who doesn't do much else but drinking Dr. Pepper on a bench, next to his dead dog; a dumb garage owner; a young macho, called T.N.T, who seems to come straight from the fifties and his nymphomaniac girlfriend... Bobby Cooper wants to get out of there as quickly as possible. But he has one problem. He's got no money because he was robbed and the mechanic charges him an enormous price for the repairs. He can't do anything else but to stay in the village, to try to live with these weird people and to stay out of the hands of the bookies until he has found some money...

I must say that I was quite surprised by this movie. The way everything was shot is really well done and the music (composed and selected by Ennio Morricone) gives it all an extra touch. Even all the acting was very convincing. With people like Sean Penn, Billy Bob Thornton, Joaquin Phoenix and Nick Nolte I don't expect anything less than a good performance. But it has to be said: Jennifer Lopez, who certainly isn't a great actress, was actually pretty good in this movie.

All in all this is a very good movie, plenty of dark humor, good acting and some very nice shots. Personally I think this is one of Oliver Stone's finer movies and that's why I give it a 7.5/10.