Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
When a desperate man’s car breaks down in a bizarre desert town while evading vengeful bookies, he becomes entangled in a dangerous love triangle. Caught between a married couple, he’s faced with deadly contracts to kill them both.
Oliver Stone's U Turn is a feverish neo-noir that leans heavily on its scorched Arizona visuals and Robert Richardson's hyperkinetic, sun-bleached cinematography — genuinely exceptional and the film's clearest standout. Sean Penn, Jennifer Lopez, Nick Nolte, and a parade of eccentric character actors (Joaquin Phoenix, Billy Bob Thornton, Jon Voight) deliver committed if occasionally overwrought performances. The plot is a serviceable but fairly familiar noir trap — stranded drifter, femme fatale, murderous husband — elevated somewhat by Stone's maximalist stylistic excess but not particularly original in conception. The ending resolves with bleak inevitability typical of the genre without major surprise. Novelty is moderate: Stone's gonzo energy and visual assault give it a distinct personality, but the neo-noir bones underneath are well-worn. A cult curio rather than a reinvention.