







|
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U-Turn (1997)
    
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Directed
by:
Oliver
Stone |
COUNTRY
USA |
GENRE
Crime/Neo-noir |
NORWEGIAN TITLE
U-Turn |
RUNNING
TIME
125 minutes |
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Produced by:
Clayton
Townsend
Dan Halsted |
Written by
(based on his novel):
John Ridley |
Review
Oliver Stone tried his hand at the
then in-vogue MTV style with this crime mystery set in a small town in the
Arizona desert. Sean Penn plays a small-time criminal whose car breaks down
while passing through, and as he walks into town after leaving it with the local
hillbilly mechanic (Billy Bob Thornton), he gradually finds himself tangled up
in the town's highly dysfunctional relationships and buried secrets.
The claustrophobic, noirish downward spiral Stone aims for is realised partly through moments of
poignancy, partly through hyper-stylised mystique, and partly through the film's
grainy, ugly cinematography. As a whole, the film sprawls in too many directions
and doesn't quite work, but it has its moments. Nick Nolte delivers a powerful,
nuanced performance that might have been a real contender in a better movie.
Re-reviewed:
Copyright © 23.06.2025 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang
Original review:
Copyright © 23.03.2000 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang |
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