U-Turn Review
by Jamie Peck (jpeck1 AT gl DOT umbc DOT edu)October 3rd, 1997
U-TURN
RATING: ***1/2 (out of ****)
TriStar / 2:05 / 1997 / R (language, explicit violence, sex, brief nudity) Cast: Sean Penn; Jennifer Lopez; Nick Nolte; Powers Boothe; Claire Danes; Jon Voight; Billy Bob Thornton; Joaquin Phoenix; Julie Hagerty; Laurie Metcalf Director: Oliver Stone
Screenplay: John Ridley
Back in 1993, Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers" opened to divided critical response and an even more mixed audience reaction. People
couldn't agree on exactly what they had seen -- a darkly funny
commentary on media extremes or a crass, gratuitous glorification of violence. The mainstream crowd is likely to sport a warmer feeling
about Stone's new "U-Turn," a black comedy mood piece that boasts a
superb cast and electrifying production values. Undoubtedly bizarre
and unarguably outlandish, "U-Turn" will probably cause people to look
upon it with either strong like or dislike, but likely more of the
former.
"U-Turn" tells the story of drifter Bobby Cooper (Sean Penn), who's traveling through the desert en route to pay off a hefty gambling debt
in Las Vegas. A busted radiator strands him in Superior, Arizona, a
derelict mining town that seems to be just on the edge of
reality. Bobby comes to said conclusion after a surreal encounter with shrewd, disgusting mechanic Darrell (Billy Bob Thornton), who sports a hideous beer gut and runs the only gas station in the
vicinity. Darrell claims it'll take some time to repair the car, so
Bobby decides to pass the time by roaming around Superior. Superior
is the kind of town where a panhandler keeps his long dead dog at his
side and an aging Mexican convenience store clerk whips out a shotgun
to enact some vigilante law enforcement; Bobby's money is blown to smithereens in that second incident.
Things get stranger still as Bobby repeatedly runs across a cast of
unsavory locals. The only normal person he comes across is Grace
McKenna (Jennifer Lopez), a beautiful Native American who immediately invites Bobby back to her upscale estate and seems to be seducing him
with every look. But before their mutual attraction can be
consummated, Bobby and Grace are interrupted by her husband Jake (Nick Nolte), an odious real estate salesman who both knocks Bobby out and
then offers him a ride away from the premises in the same breath. On
the way, Jake makes an intriguing proposal: He'll pay Bobby to kill
his wife. Bobby reluctantly accepts, and upon setting out to do so,
receives a counter offer from Grace.
The setup of "U-Turn" is ripe with the many pleasurable elements of a neo-Western film noir (some of which were most recently put to good
use in "Red Rock West"): Life insurance policies, bloody homicides, double-crosses aplenty and pitch-black humor. All of this territory
is predictable genre stuff, but Stone executes each new plot
development with extremely intriguing visuals. "U-Turn" (like every
other Stone movie since "JFK") is ripe with entrancing, audacious
sights, and here, they work well to give the proceedings an edge and
never reach the level of sense-overkill like they did in Natural Born Killers. Occasionally, Stone's employment of these different film
stocks is out of place -- the initial encounter between Grace and
Bobby could have been steamy and erotic if not for all the jump cuts
and close-ups -- but generally, his stylistic devices work
extraordinarily well.
Another area that "U-Turn" aces is casting. Following a several-year
absence from movie projects, the omnipresent Penn (he can also be seen currently in "The Game" and "She's So Lovely") is sublime in a tricky
role -- he can never seem too comical or too serious, and deftly
manages just the right mix of both. Lopez is also exceptional as the
film's question-marked object of desire; she's both a good girl and a
bad girl, and we understand why men are alternately lusting after her
or attempting to kill her. Meanwhile, Nolte aces one of his riskiest
parts yet. Underused but priceless are Clare Danes as a doofy hick and
an unrecognizable Jon Voight as a blind Indian vet. And worth the
admission fee alone is the twirly beehive and apparently crack-induced flirtatious behavior of Julie Hagerty as a greasy spoon waitress named
-- get this -- Flo.
"U-Turn" is similar to last spring's trippy "Lost Highway" in its
bizarre characters, eccentric goings-on and elliptical structure, but
this movie, unlike David Lynch's sloppy tale, at least seems to make
sense when it's all over. And when it is all over, you'll be slapping yourself in the forehead -- it's a wicked, funny twist that you
realize you should have anticipated beforehand. "U-Turn" is one of
Oliver Stone's more accessible, most enjoyable films, and maybe that
will distinguish it from the glut of other fall movies causing a
seasonal traffic jam of cruddy releases.
© 1997 Jamie Peck
E-mail: [email protected]
Visit the Reel Deal Online: http://www.gl.umbc.edu/~jpeck1/
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
