U Turn (1997)

A man heading to Vegas to pay off his gambling debt before the Russian mafia kills him is forced to stop in an Arizona town where everything that can go wrong does go wrong.

Director:

Oliver Stone

Writers:

John Ridley (screenplay), John Ridley (book)

Stars:

Sean Penn, Jennifer Lopez, Nick Nolte

1 win & 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:

arizona | police officer shot | dramatic irony | incest | neo noir | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Billy Bob Thorton and Powers Boothe were both previously in "Tombstone" in 1993.

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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

Jake McKenna: You're a man without scruples. Oh, I can smell it on you.
Jake McKenna: [Rubs his hand on Bobby's sweaty hair, then smells it] Yeah, that's the sweat of a man that hasn't an honest bone in his body.

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Connections

Referenced in Nasi: Závislosti (2016)

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Soundtracks

I Wish You Love
(Que Reste-t-il de nos Amours ?)
Music by Charles Trenet and Léo Chauliac
French lyrics by Charles Trenet
English lyrics by Albert Beach
Performed by Gloria Lynne
Courtesy of Everest Records

User Reviews

Oliver Stones' best film by a wide margin.

U Turn is a great film. Of course it borrows from other films, so what? Sean Penn turns in a great performance as does Nick Nolte, Billy Bob Thornton and Jon Voight.Jennifer Lopez does her best to keep up with the seasoned professionals and by and large succeeds. As the story unfolds we get some great cameo performances from Voight and Thornton, whilst Penn pulls out all the stops. The twisting noir-ish plot succeeds in keeping us enthralled for the duration. None of the characters are particularly likeable which could be a problem in certain circumstances but in this film it just serves to make us enjoy their various fates. If Stone were to make smaller scale films like this instead of overblown rubbish like Any Given Sunday, Natural Born Killers and The Doors he might just find a more willing audience.

Details

Country:

USA France

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 October 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Stray Dogs

Filming Locations:

Florence, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$19,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,730,440, 5 October 1997

Gross USA:

$6,682,098

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$6,682,098

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

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1