george-841 A cast-ful of talent wasted on this tedious bit of desert "pseudo-film-noire." The plot's been covered at length here so just a few thoughts: 1. All the bills in a bag full of money are ENTIRELY DESTROYED by one shotgun blast? Really? This is a critical plot device because the whole movie depends on Sean Penn becoming penniless and "trapped" inside Superior, Arizona. And what happened to all the "money debris" that was floating around this store after the robbery? Oh, note that 3 $100 bills did survive because Penn gives those to the shop-owner so she'll keep mum about his presence during the robbery. C'mon, he could have least picked up the pieces and pasted together enough money to pay for his car repair ($200) and get the heck out of "Dodge." 2. Billy Bob Thorton is a hoot, as usual when he plays ugly, disgusting characters, which appears to be his natural forte. Covered head-to-toe with grey oil stains and smiling through hideously rotten teeth, he's the only major character in this film that we do NOT see enough of. He's got some great funny lines, too, like at one point when Penn calls him every name in the book, he responds with "Are those insults? Are you insulting me?" Penn gets what he deserves with the rude, insulting treatment he renders to the only guy for 50 miles who can fix his broken radiator hose.3. A young Claire Danes is enjoyable to watch as the teen-aged girl friend of an obnoxious and blowhard Joaquin Phoenix, who gets his butt kicked by Penn after accusing Penn of coming onto his girlfriend. These secondary scenes are actually more enjoyable to watch than the main action.4. As for what happens to Penn's character in the end... all I can say is "Stupid Is as Stupid Does."

SnoopyStyle Bobby (Sean Penn) is on his way to pay off a debt to a gangster who has already taken two fingers. His car breaks down as he pulls into desert outpost Superior, Arizona in the middle of nowhere. He leaves the car with Darrell (Billy Bob Thornton) the mechanic. He hits on Grace McKenna (Jennifer Lopez) but she's actually married to Jake (Nick Nolte) who catches them kissing. After punching him, Jake drives him back to town suggesting a scheme to kill Grace. A robbery at the store ends with his bag of money shot to bits. Darrell has his car ripped apart and wants $150 for the trouble. He calls the gangster who is not happy and sends a thug. At the diner, he talks to Jenny (Claire Danes) which provokes her boyfriend Toby N. Tucker (Joaquin Phoenix). Bobby goes to Jake with a proposal.Director Oliver Stone is throwing everything onto the screen but not enough of it sticks. He fills this with crazy characters. The music and sound is deliberately wacky. He's trying so hard that it almost hurts to watch this. The style is so random that it all gets a bit tiresome. The characters are not compelling and Sean Penn doesn't make me care about his character. The temperature may be hot but there is no heat about any of this.

seymourblack-1 "U Turn" is often over the top, surreal and comical and Oliver Stone's style of direction plays along with these qualities perfectly. In everything he does, he favours excess over subtlety and utilises a variety of quick and often disconcerting visual techniques to create the hallucinogenic backdrop against which this twisted drama is played out. A collection of highly eccentric characters and some extraordinary performances from a star-studded cast also adds greatly to the enjoyment of watching this interesting treatment of a standard film noir plot (which bears a strong resemblance to "Red Rock West").Bobby Cooper (Sean Penn)is a drifter who's driving to Las Vegas to pay off some gambling debts when his car's radiator hose blows and he has to make a detour to the town of Superior, Arizona to get a replacement fitted. Whilst his car is being repaired, Bobby goes into the town centre and almost straightaway, meets Grace McKenna (Jennifer Lopez). She's an attractive woman who needs assistance to carry some newly purchased drapes back to her home and Bobby is pleased to help. They start to get friendly and just as Bobby has his arms around her, Grace's husband Jake (Nick Nolte), arrives and punches Bobby to the ground.A little while later, after Bobby's left Grace's house, Jake offers him a significant amount of money to kill his wife because he's tired of her games. Bobby doesn't show any interest in the offer at that time but does later, after he loses all his money in strange circumstances after unintentionally getting caught up in a convenience store robbery. Before Bobby can go ahead with the planned murder, Grace persuades him to kill Jake so that they can steal her husband's money and go away together. They go ahead with their plan but a series of complications follow and eventually lead to a very tense and unpredictable end to the story.Bobby Cooper is a typical noir protagonist who suffers a misfortune that leads to a whole series of other problems, which all inevitably become more serious and dangerous than the last. This ex-tennis player with a gambling problem had already had two fingers cut off by the gangsters to whom he owed money before he arrived in Superior and the bad luck he suffered when his car broke down was exploited by the unscrupulous mechanic at the local garage who kept raising the cost of the job and threatening Bobby in various ways. Bobby's attraction to Grace got him caught up in a web of lust, murder and treachery and random misfortunes led to him losing his money and becoming trapped in this desert town with no means of escape. His awful predicament is then made even worse by his certain knowledge that the gangsters who want their money back know where he is and are coming to get him.Sean Penn is wonderfully intense and conveys his character's sheer desperation with immense power and conviction. There are also, however, very memorable performances by the rest of the cast who all look as if they're having a lot of fun in their roles as some of the most weird and devious people imaginable.Billy Bob Thornton stands out as the malevolent mechanic with a disgusting appearance and Nick Nolte is suitably gruff and repulsive as a man with an appalling past and no morals. Jon Voight makes a big impression as an allegedly blind Vietnam veteran who's a beggar with a penchant for making philosophical pronouncements and Jennifer Lopez is very good as the femme fatale.This neo-noir account of one man's nightmare contains so many elements that are recognisable from other film noirs that it ultimately becomes a glorious pastiche in which its many moments of dark humour act as a marvellous counterpoint to all the evil and violence that are prevalent throughout the whole story.

TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews The drifter Bobby just wants to get to Las Vegas and pay off his gambling debt. On the road in the Southwest, however, his car breaks down. He gets to the nearby small town of Superior, AZ, and he tries desperately to get back out. He runs into every kind of trouble conceivable there. Half the people he meets cause problems for him. The married couple of femme fatale Grace(an extremely hot Lopez at her most seductive, who does OK when asked to do anything more than be sultry and desirable, which she, of course, nails, pun intended) and Jake(Nolte, undeniably the creepiest presence in this, and he has serious competition for that award) both want him to kill their spouse. Darrell(Thornton in what may be his least appealing role... no, really; he's dumb, cheap, nasty and the oil on his face really gets to you) is the only chance nearby for getting the ride fixed back up, and he isn't exactly... well, all there. Blind Man Jon Voight is eccentric. And teenage Jenny(Danes, convincing as a proper little Lolita-wanna-be) falls in love with every new male face she sees with the same eagerness as her ill-tempered boyfriend Toby(Phoenix) is to beat up everyone she as much as talks to. The characters are memorable, quirky and distinct(even though there are so many of them, they all get a good amount of screen time, and we don't forget any of them). The majority of the acting is spot-on, and this makes solid use of the considerable talent featured. This is shot rather well. The editing will get on some people's nerves(it's very clearly a Stone film, and it's one of his greatest ones, as far as entertainment value goes), and it does arguably try a little hard, if it does succeed in building an atmosphere of unbearable heat, constant new obstacles, mistrust, violence and dirt(literal and figurative). Every time you think the central issue has been resolved, something new pops up to delay it. This manages to not frustrate the viewer, at least not to the point where we are unhappy with the movie... instead, we sympathize with the people(in spite of none of them being likable, without them being obnoxious to the point where you turn this off... they're interesting jerks, and that makes up for it) and their situation. The music by Ennio Morricone is excellent, and really fits the mood and tone. There is a lot of disturbing content and strong language, a little blood, nudity and sexuality in this. The DVD comes with a trailer(for this). I recommend this to any fan of those responsible for making it, and/or of filthy crime-drama-thrillers set in the middle of nowhere. 7/10