You been seeing those ads for U-Turn on TV recently? Been curious about more? Well I had a cool spy last night at a screening of U-TURN at a college campus somewhere in the world, which also had a via satellite interview with director OLIVER STONE. There are SPOILERS below!!!
I, the highstrung hangman, and my buddy the great laser attended the special showing of U-turn Tuesday night. Let me start off by saying that it is very unusual for screenings like this to occur in Alabama, but I wish it was more frequent. The theatre we watched it on had lousy sound and very lousy color, but despite this I really enjoyed the movie. For the most part this review is spoiler free so read on. I knew everything below before I saw the movie and it didn't spoil a thing for me. I was still shocked. I am speaking on behalf of the great laser as well, I will throw in our difference of opinion when there was one, although we didn't disagree on that many things as a whole.
First off the cast was terrific. Billy Bob Thorton was great as Darrell, the mechanic from hell, really funny stuff from his character.
Sean Penn was also wisely cast as Bobby Cooper. I never really cared for him as an actor but he played this part very well. He was very believable and towards the end of the movie you sorta feel sorry for the guy. He plays a drifter that owes a debt to some Russian mobsters or loan sharks. The sound was lousy it was hard to hear what he called them. Sorry!!!
Nick Nolte did an adequate part in his role as Jake Mckenna. I think he worked as an investor of some kind. Sorry it was the sound thing again. Also, he spoke in this really low gutteral voice and it was hard to hear what he was saying at times.
Claire Danes plays a flirtatious blond named Jenny. She is very funny in this movie. Great part.
Joaquin Phoneix plays Jenny's jealous boyfriend Toby N. Tucker. He doesn't want anyone messing with his Jenny and Penn's character gets all the flack. There is a really funny gag with his name, although I won't spoil it here.
Jennifer Lopez gave an excellent performance as Nolte's wife Grace. This is a haunting performance I will remember for quite some time. Considering the only other movie I have seen her in was Anaconda, I was surprised she is as good of an actress as she shows very confidently in this movie.
Powers Booth played Sherrif Potter. This is one of the things that I disagreed with the great laser on. I thought that the performance was pretty good and that he fit the part. Laser on the other hand, said that he was not believable as a cop and that he was adequate as best. Bad casting he says for this one. It was ok to me.
Jon Voight plays a blind indian who gives out dolops of advice to Penn's character. He also is there mainly for comic relief. At the end of the movie he steals the show, but you'll see. Very funny scene.
Liv Tyler is in this movie for maybe five minutes. You don't even see her face. Why is she here, she doesn't even speak that I remember. Such a waste of a pretty face.
The Plot:
Well, let me start off by saying that U-turn is a very good title for this movie. It has so many plot twists that you will never figure out the ending. It shocked me, of course this is Oliver Stone and controversy is the name of the game. This movie is going to be controversial. I never saw Natural Born Killers, but this movie is very violent. In the Q&A afterwards with Mr. Stone he said that the movie is not as violent as the aforementioned film. It was unsettling to me, a little to much. I am going to summarize the plot, but just briefly. Beware for spoilers, although this is almost as much as I have read in other reviews. It isn't going to spoil anything.
Basically Sean Penn is on his way to pay off these Russian guys. They have already cut off two of his fingers and he finally has the money to pay them off. His radiator busts and he is stranded in a town called Superior, Arizona. After the movie, Mr. Stone said it was an old mining town, and it looks it too. This town is full of all sorts of wierd characters and nothing seems to be going right for Penn. Through a twisted and very strange turn of events he finds his money gone and he doesn't even have enough to pay to get his car fixed. Billy Bob Thorton provides plenty of comic relief as the mechanic from hell. It seems that he just keeps finding new things wrong with Penn's car. It makes for some really funny scenes. So, he's pretty much broke. Enter Grace McKenna, the sexy seductress who isn't what she seems. Or is she? Jennifer Lopez gives spice to this role, it is a really memorable part. Penn gets caught by her husband Jake (Nolte) and is run out of the house. Penn has no money so he can't leave but Jake offers him a suggestion. "Kill my wife and i'll give you the money you need to leave." So, the rest of the movie hinges on the twists and turns and decisions that Penn makes in order to leave. Literally he gets driven to murder, but that's all i'm saying. The violence is extreme in this movie. It is not for the squeemish, and one scene is something I have a problem with. There is a murder scene in this movie that is drug out and unbelivable. It seems this was done for pure shock appeal and nothing more. When you see it you will understand. Gore and brutality for pure shock. It adds nothing to the story and could be done without in my opinion. The movie works on you psychologically, not unlike The Game, although in a different sort of way. You feel for Penn, you want him to leave, to escape and get on with his life. That's why this movie works, you care about the characters. And you hate the villans. The first part of the movie is more comedy than anything else, towards the end though it turns very dark and violent. There is one scene in this movie that is really going to cause controversy and it involves sex and a dead person (and no it's not necrophelia). It sickened me, but I suppose that is what Stone wanted and he got it. This is the kind of movie that makes you gasp for air at times. Like I said the name is very appropriate, plot twists galore. There is a lot of imagery going on here that really didn't do much for either of us Laser said that it was distracting and only lenghened the movie. Oh yeah, it's very long over two hours. Overall, a very cool movie, go see it but be prepared to be shocked. Like I said it is not for the faint of heart. Oh yeah, there is some sex in it too, but nothing too revealing. If the end of the movie makes you think "Why?" then take this quote from Stone to heart. It helped Laser deal with the ending better after he heard this. (Possible Spoiler)
"Every man has evil in him, we just hide that fact, but when we resort to violence, there is a price we must pay for that act." This film shows that.
