U Turn (1997)

reviewed by
Jamie Peck


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: jpeck1@gl.umbc.edu Visit the Reel Deal Online: http://www.gl.umbc.edu/~jpeck1/


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