Director Oliver Stone has been a conundrum to movie fans.
His output of film runs from some fantastic movies to movies that are puzzling
yet good and on to others that just make you scratch your head wondering what
he was thinking. The movie U TURN falls into that last category.
In one of the extras, Stone commenting on this film and what
was going on when he did so, he talks about it being a dark time in his life
and how it shows in the film. He’s right. It does show. And that’s not in a
good way. What began as a tribute of sorts to the classic film noire movies of
the past resulted in a movie that was far too drawn out, confusing at times,
pointless at others and in the end boring.
Sean Penn stars as Bobby Cooper, a down on his luck gambler
transporting money to pay off his debt. His car breaks down in a remote desert
town resulting in his taking it to Darrell (Billy Bob Thornton), the local
garage owner who is nothing if not eccentric. Bobby walks into town to get something
to drink eventually catching the eye of a young woman who asks for his help
with something she has purchased.
The young woman is Grace McKenna (Jennifer Lopez) and when
she gets his help hanging the blinds he helped carry in she slowly teases him
to the point he finally takes her in his arms. About that time in burst Jake
McKenna (Nick Nolte), the husband she failed to mention having. He busts Bobby
in the face and threatens to kill him only to be convinced Bobby was unaware of
his existence. After a quick apology he drives Bobby back to town. Along the
way a lengthy discussion ensues ending with his offering Bobby money to kill
Grace.
Bobby turns down the offer and then ends up in the middle of
a convenience store robbery where the bag of money he is transported gets
caught in the crossfire leaving him with nothing except shredded bills strewn
about the bloody corpse of the thief. He calls the man waiting for him to show
and tries to explain but you know that no help is coming. Contacting Jake he
agrees to the offer. Except that he now finds himself so drawn to Grace that he
can’t go through with it. Which works out well for Grace because she makes him
a counter offer to kill Jake.
There is yet another twist in the plot that I won’t reveal
here so don’t accuse me of too many spoilers please. And the items I’ve
revealed so far are apparent from the box art to the trailers for the film. The
biggest problem though is that it sounds like it could make a good movie. Too
bad it doesn’t.
The biggest flaw with the film is that there is absolutely
no one to sympathize with, no one to relate to. Bobby is a complete jerk and a
loser. Grace is a manipulative woman that was a stereotype for far too long.
Jake has little to say or do except be threatening. Thornton’s character is by
far the wackiest of the bunch to the point he becomes unbelievable. Toss in
Powers Boothe as the town sheriff and you have an A list of stars that have
nothing credible to do in the movie.
Watching I remembered seeing this movie for the first time
and being disappointed again. That hasn’t changed with time. In truth the movie
came out as Stone’s career was going downhill and he was more obsessed with
conspiracy theories than in making sound movies. Sure it looks good but I give
the credit for that to cinematographer Robert Richardson. He proves that a good
cinematographer can make any garbage movie look good.
If you’re a die-hard fan of Stone or want to own a complete
collection of all of his works then by all means you’ll want to add this one to
your collection. Olive Films has done a fine job of transfer to blu-ray as they
always do. But for the average collector I would suggest finding someone to
borrow this from or if a rental is available see it that way if you must. I
can’t find myself telling friends to rent it but if you feel the need…
Click here to order.
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