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U-turn

Threat advisory: Elevated - Significant risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

Sex. Murder. Betrayal. Everything that makes life worth living.

Having forged some of the best performances from the biggest names in Hollywood (including Tom Cruise, Michael Douglas and Anthony Hopkins), Oliver Stone brings together an all star cast for U-turn.

A slick, black and punchy thriller about a man trapped in a deadly game of lust, madness and money, starring Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Jennifer Lopez, Claire Danes, Joaquin Phoenix, Billy Bob Thornton, with cameos by Liv Tyler and Laurie Metcalf.

Small-time gambler Bobby Cooper (Sean Penn) is about to take the gamble of his life when he takes a road turn into Superior, Arizona. As Bobby goes from one bizarre encounter to another, his quest to get out of town begins to look more and more remote. Local couple Grace and Jake McKenna (Jennifer Lopez and Nick Nolte) offer him a way out - kill one for the other. His one-time goal of leaving Superior vanishes in the face of pure survival.

Shot in just 42 days, entirely on location in the actual town of Superior, Arizona on a small scale budget of $20 million, Oliver Stone was supported by an experienced creative team, including legendary Italian composer Ennio Morricone who wrote the film score.

Persons of interest

Sean Penn .... Bobby Cooper
Nick Nolte .... Jake McKenna
Jennifer Lopez .... Grace McKenna
Powers Boothe .... Sheriff Virgil Potter
Claire Danes .... Jenny
Joaquin Phoenix .... Toby N Tucker aka TNT
Jon Voight .... Blind Man
Billy Bob Thornton .... Darrell
Aida Linares .... Jamilla
Ilia Volokh .... Sergei
Valeri Nikolayev .... Mr Arkady
Brent Briscoe .... Boyd
Bo Hopkins .... Ed
Julie Hagerty .... Flo (as Julie Haggerty)
John Ridley .... Author: Stray dogs; Screenwriter
Oliver Stone .... Director

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

Natural born killers without quite so much social commentary.

A little bit of 1950s film noir (well, a lot at 125 minutes) with the casual ultra-violence of the 90s. Disappointingly, nothing really surprises once you get past the introductory bits, perhaps they signal too clearly where things are going, or perhaps Oliver Stone just sticks too closely to the genre. Stylistically there is little to distinguish U-turn from Killers, the same quick cuts, weird angles and so forth. The intended removal of the political aspect (to focus on filmmaking) made a change, but it appears to have been change for change's sake.

Don't get me, it's a funny, violent, entertaining film, but I expected more. Having read this review you'll be in a position to enjoy it more than I did.

Security censorship classification

R 18+ (Medium level violence, adult themes, medium level sex scene)

Surveillance time

124 minutes (2:04 hours)

Not for public release in Australia before date

Film: 5 March 1998

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