Review of U Turn (1997) by Alison O — 09 Aug 2005

Best in Show: Sean Penn (happy birthday Mr Penn!).

One for the future: Joaquin Phoenix.

Stand-out scene: Cifftop.

Brainer or no-brainer: Brainer.

Stands up to one viewing or repeated?: Repeated.

DVD commentary any good?: n/a.

DVD.

Oliver Stone made this - it seems - as his take on the Tarantino generation of filmmaking and I was impressed. Aimed squarely towards the most lucrative box office demographic; males between 18 and 25 this features an early(ish) appearance by Jennifer Lopez, who is here cast as an American-Native American (I can't bring myself to put cross-breed). With La Lopez now complaining that her music profile means that she's no longer being offered decent acting roles (could it be more to do with her poor script choices since she made Out of Sight?) here her abilities can be judged in the cold light of day and she just about cuts the mustard. The movie however, belongs to Sean Penn (45 today!), who has been threatening to trade in his acting spurs for years now. Long may his work in front of the camera continue if his performance here is anything to go by. He plays Bobby Cooper, a gambler up to his neck in debt to the Mafia who is travelling to California from Las Vegas to erase his debt. He has already lost a finger for his troubles and is merrily clocking up the miles on his car when a hose blows in the bonnet and the car is immobilised. He finds himself in the baking hot town of Superior, Arizona and, after engaging the services of not too bright redneck Darrell (Billy Bob Thornton), he heads into town for a bottle of cold Dr Pepper. There he encounters a series of colourful townsfolk, including a blind man (Jon Voight), the sheriff (Powers Boothe), local fightmonger TNT (Joaquin Phoenix) and his girlfriend (Claire Danes). Also on his list of new friends are Grace (Lopez) and her husband Jake (Nick Nolte) and he soon becomes embroiled in a domestic dispute that threatens to bring the town census figures down. Interesting visuals and a snappy screenplay make for an attention-holding movie and the sun-baked setting is almost a character in its own right. A fine effort.