U Turn (1997)
Abraham Benrubi, Billy Bob Thornton, Claire Danes
Oliver Stone used such words as "liberating" and "fun" to talk about U Turn's relatively quick production schedule of 42 days. Stone's ideas of film fun, however, are something older generations would call sick. This film is a Southwestern noir tale about Bobby Cooper (Sean Penn), a h...
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Oliver Stone used such words as "liberating" and "fun" to talk about U Turn's relatively quick production schedule of 42 days. Stone's ideas of film fun, however, are something older generations would call sick. This film is a Southwestern noir tale about Bobby Cooper (Sean Penn), a hotshot who is stuck in the tight confines of Superior, Arizona, when his car breaks down. His subsequent adventure is a meatball comedy--loud, obnoxious, and violent, and stuffed with diffused light, a hot cast, and a no-fat Ennio Morricone score. This film has plenty of odd characters, but you never really find out much about them. Bobby's first encounters include a repulsive mechanic (Billy Bob Thornton under the grease) and a blind Indian (Jon Voight under the makeup). Then there's Grace McKenna (a sizzling Jennifer Lopez), who is as dangerous as the curves of her red sundress. Bobby's got time to kill, and Grace seems more than willing. Unfortunately, it seems that Bobby has never seen a movie such as A Touch of Evil; if he had, he would know it can only get worse. About the time Grace's husband, Jake (Nick Nolte), shows up, Bobby is knee-deep in murder plots and double-crosses. The first 40 minutes or so are "fun" to a point. Penn is the perfect near-creep to root for, and as he wanders back into town after meeting Grace, the eclectic characters pile up. But soon it gets monotonous, tiring, and just plain ugly. And when incest and bloody fights begin, the fun is gone. If Penn weren't so solid an actor and able to be empathetic in the most morose situations, the movie would be unwatchable at stretches. Lopez makes another good impression, but this is not a performance that stands out. Nolte, raspy and ill-looking, is the Lee Marvin of the '90s. Before U Turn is over, you are already wondering if Oliver Stone will do something else, something more important, soon. --Doug Thomas
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R, 125 min.
Directed by:
Oliver Stone
Release Date: Oct 03, 1997
DVD Release Date: Mar 31, 1998
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Filled with despicable yet enjoyable characters and dark humor that's pitch black, 'U Turn' is entertaining, stylish, and twisted beyond its flaws.
The cast is terrific, even if some seem out of place. Jennifer Lopez plays a Native American. Cla... (read more) Filled with despicable yet enjoyable characters and dark humor that's pitch black, 'U Turn' is entertaining, stylish, and twisted beyond its flaws.
The cast is terrific, even if some seem out of place. Jennifer Lopez plays a Native American. Claire Danes, Joaquin Phoenix, and Jon Voight get ten minutes of screen time each despite their obvious talents. Billy Bob Thornton is unrecognizable under the grease. Nick Nolte and Sean Peen are perfect fits, though. Oh, Liv Tyler shows up as a bit player (seriously one line of dialouge).
The story may be repetitive, overlong, and unoriginal, but it's told in an exciting and off-kilter way. The twists/suprises may not actually be that surprising -- ever -- but they make sense within itself. The ending is terrific and un-Hollywood.
'U Turn' is anything but standard.
Funny & underrated. Sean Penn is awesome all the way. One of the best from Oliver Stone while he was going Lynch's way.
Entertaining, fun, and hilarious. This is Oliver Stone's After Hours. It's a departure from the typical Oliver Stone movie.
It's a film about bad people fucking each other over, done in film noir style with heavy doses of Pekinpah/Tarantino-style gore. And I'll use the word style one more time . . . it's stylishly done, like Natural Born Killers, with great actors, solid ... (read more) It's a film about bad people fucking each other over, done in film noir style with heavy doses of Pekinpah/Tarantino-style gore. And I'll use the word style one more time . . . it's stylishly done, like Natural Born Killers, with great actors, solid acting, brilliant cinematography, spectacular scenery, and an ultra-cool soundtrack. What I liked best was that the movie is staged in Superior, Arizona, an old mining town east of Phoenix, with no effort to disguise or mask the location. Well, that and Sean Penn. And Billy Bob Thornton. It's a pretty cool flick.
Considere comme une oeuvre mineure dans la filmographie du grand Oliver Stone, U-Turn est a mes yeux superieur au controverse Tueur-Nes (que j'ai deteste personnellement).
U-Turn est un film qui mele plusieurs genres : le pur film noir (un meurtre, ... (read more) Considere comme une oeuvre mineure dans la filmographie du grand Oliver Stone, U-Turn est a mes yeux superieur au controverse Tueur-Nes (que j'ai deteste personnellement).
U-Turn est un film qui mele plusieurs genres : le pur film noir (un meurtre, une femme fatale, etc...), le polar rigolo façon Tarantino (d'ailleurs U-Turn m'a rappele les ecrits d'Elmore Leonard dont est aussi tire Jackie Brown)et le trip mystique.
On trouve meme une tonalite plus politique, Stone ne se privant pas d'explorer une nouvelle fois l'histoire de son pays avec la subtile evocation de la place des minorites indiennes dans l'Amerique du XXeme siecle.
De cet etrange melange des genres decoule un metrage parfois bordelique dans sa narration et surtout dans sa realisation, Stone ayant tendance à utiliser des procedes de mise en scene qui finissent par devenir agaçant (les flash-backs apportent au recit mais il y en a trop) meme si on ne peut pas remettre sa maitrise formelle en question (remarquable utilisation du decor, une photo sublime et une musique signee Ennio Morricone).
Mais malgre cela, U-Turn reste un film incroyablement jouissif qui ne se prend pas trop au serieux malgre la gravite de certains themes (l'inceste).
C'est peut-etre moi, mais j'ai beaucoup ris, probablement parce que la plupart des personnages sont completement cingles.
Campes par d'excellents acteurs ( Nick Nolte etonnant en salaud, J-Lo plus chaude qu'une baraque a frite et dans un de ses meilleurs roles,etc...), les protagonistes du recit sont hauts en couleurs, mon prefere etant le garagiste roublard interprete par un Billy Bob Thornton meconnaissable.
Au final, sans etre un chef d'oeuvre, U-Turn est une des oeuvres les plus singulieres de son realisateur, un film a l'ambiance unique qui ne laisse pas indifferent.
Sconclusionato e calligrafico insieme. Ho tentato di vederlo più volte registrandolo da Telepiù e ora da SkyTV: allucinantemente brutto.
A black comedy about a guy who gets stuck in a small town in Arizona as somehow everything just keeps going wrong. Every attempt to dig himself out of the whole just ends up leaving him deeper.
Not an uplifting view of humanity.
I have no idea if I saw this. I think I did. Clearly didn't leave an impression.
A nasty little Road movie from Oliver Stone (sandwiched between Nixon and Any given Sunday on his CV), featuring Sean Penn before he hit his recent stride of excellent performances in quality movies. Funny and disturbing in equal measure featuring a... (read more) A nasty little Road movie from Oliver Stone (sandwiched between Nixon and Any given Sunday on his CV), featuring Sean Penn before he hit his recent stride of excellent performances in quality movies. Funny and disturbing in equal measure featuring a whole host of talent who do a nice job with some extremely unlikeable characters. More of an oddity for Stone and is fairly routine in execution (for Stone anyway) but still boosts typical Stone flair, violence and intensity.
Critic Reviews
This is a repetitive, pointless exercise in genre filmmaking -- the kind of movie where you distract yourself by making a list of the sources.full review
It demonstrates a filmmaker in complete command of his craft and with little control over his impulses.full review
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