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U-Turn Details

1997 Certificate 18
  • Rated:
  • 60
  • from 3038 members

Oliver Stone shelved his social conscience while making this vicious nest-of-vipers noir. Sean Penn stars as Bobby Cooper, a gambler on the run who is forced to lay up in a desolate Arizona whistlestop with car trouble. Desperate and broke, he receives an offer from the middle-aged Jake McKenna (Nick Nolte) to kill his .. Read more

Starring Sean Penn, Jennifer Lopez, Nick Nolte, Joaquin Phoenix
Director Oliver Stone
Genres Drama

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U-Turn

Oliver Stone shelved his social conscience while making this vicious nest-of-vipers noir. Sean Penn stars as Bobby Cooper, a gambler on the run who is forced to lay up in a desolate Arizona whistlestop with car trouble. Desperate and broke, he receives an offer from the middle-aged Jake McKenna (Nick Nolte) to kill his beautiful young wife, Grace (Jennifer Lopez). Initially reluctant, he's finally forced to contemplate the deal. But the fun doesn't really begin until Grace hires Bobby to kill Jake. The film is based on the modern noir novel STRAY DOGS by John Ridley.

Starring Sean Penn, Jennifer Lopez, Nick Nolte, Joaquin Phoenix, Claire Danes, Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler, Jon Voight, Powers Boothe, Julie Hagerty, Bo Hopkins, Abraham Benrubi, Laurie Metcalf, Valeri Nikolayev
Director Oliver Stone
Studio COLUMBIA TRI-STAR HOME VIDEO
Run time DVD: 1 hr 59 mins
Certificate Certificate 18
Genres Drama
Language DVD: English
Dubbed German
Subtitles DVD: Czech, Danish, English, Finnish, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish
Released DVD: 14 Dec 1998
Production year: 1997
Format DVD

  • Critics' reviews (4) of U-Turn

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  • "...A raucously joke-filled black comedy....Stone's new wild style converts U TURN into a roaring broadside of colliding images..."

    • Sight and Sound
    • Posted 11 Mar 2005

  • "...U-Turn becomes a showcase for the filmmaker's terrific arsenal of visual mannerisms and free-association imagery..."

    • New York Times
    • Posted 11 Mar 2005

  • Most helpful member's review of U-Turn

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  • 14 out of 16 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    A magnificent turn

    U turn is a lost masterpiece. Ignored on its release, undiscovered on dvd, it remains to be hailed as the modern classic it so rightly is. Hopefully the interest surrounding Sean Penn at the moment will encourage people to hunt down his back catalogue. Fans of penn will not be disappointed as he is just so spiffingly cool in this film you can't imagine anyone else being able to pull it off. He has such edge, intelligence and depth; qualities that are so rare in modern actors.

    The story is the classic set-up of stranger breaks down in hicksville in the middle of nowhere and then things start to go wrong. However, of this type of genre, it is probably the finest, due to the simplicity, humour and slickness of the script and the tour de force ensemble cast. Nick Nolte, Jon Voight, Billy Bob Thorton and Joaquin Phoenix are all brilliant. Even j-lo is great as the red-dresssed vixen.

    Oliver stone adds in his usual flair and style to enhance the tension and drama. Using edgy composition and flash-frame cuts stone also manages to perfectly convey the beauty and brutality of the desert plains of arizona.

    The film keeps you on edge to the very end as you try to work out whose double cross will ultimately win out and you are not disappointed by the corker of an end.

    Please encourage as many people as you can to watch this largely unknown beauty

      • johnnyfraudster from greater london
      • Posted 07 Jul 2004 14:32

  • Most recent members' review of U-Turn

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  • 4 out of 4 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    Those without humour need not rent!

    I don't understand why anyone would comment on a film they could only watch quarter of, as someone did. That's just not cricket is it?

    This is a film noir with some excellent comedy moments e.g. Billy Bob Thornton's character. I think most people may have met his sort at some time, but then again hopefully not!

    Don't miss this film! (unless you take yourself too seriously or are under 12 years of age or something)

      • A customer from Teesside, England
      • Posted 15 Jun 2005 16:25

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Rating breakdown

3,038 Member ratings
  • 100
139
  • 90
193
  • 80
427
  • 70
516
  • 60
678
  • 50
383
  • 40
275
  • 30
175
  • 20
134
  • 10
118

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    • U-Turn
      Oliver Stone shelved his social conscience while making this vicious nest-of-vipers noir. Sean Penn stars as Bobby Cooper, a gambler on the run who is forced to lay up in a desolate Arizona whistlestop with car trouble. Desperate and broke, he receives an offer from the middle-aged Jake McKenna (...