The Fresh Films Review: U-Turn (1997)

U-Turn (1997)

Directed by:
Oliver Stone

COUNTRY
USA

GENRE
Crime/Neo-noir

NORWEGIAN TITLE
U-Turn

RUNNING TIME
125 minutes

Produced by:
Clayton Townsend
Dan Halsted

Written by (based on his novel):
John Ridley

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Bobby Cooper	Sean Penn
Jake McKenna	Nick Nolte
Grace McKenna	Jennifer Lopez	½
Sheriff Potter	Powers Boothe
Jenny	Claire Danes
Toby N. Tucker	Joaquin Phoenix	½
Darrell	Billy Bob Thornton	½
Blind Man	Jon Voight
Flo	Julie Hagerty	-
Ed	Bo Hopkins	-
Girl in Bus Station	Liv Tyler	-

Review

Oliver Stone tried his hand at the then in-vogue MTV style with this crime mystery set in a small town in the Arizona desert. Sean Penn plays a small-time criminal whose car breaks down while passing through, and as he walks into town after leaving it with the local hillbilly mechanic (Billy Bob Thornton), he gradually finds himself tangled up in the town's highly dysfunctional relationships and buried secrets. The claustrophobic, noirish downward spiral Stone aims for is realised partly through moments of poignancy, partly through hyper-stylised mystique, and partly through the film's grainy, ugly cinematography. As a whole, the film sprawls in too many directions and doesn't quite work, but it has its moments. Nick Nolte delivers a powerful, nuanced performance that might have been a real contender in a better movie.