U Turn

On the other hand, U Turn is the sort of film many people hate, and many of you would be best to avoid it like the plague.

U Turn is terrific and confronting; more like Natural Born Killers than any of Stone's other films which include, for those who may not know, Platoon, J.F.K., Nixon, Wall Street, Talk Radio, Born On The Forth Of July, The Doors and Conan. That's quite a list!

U Turn has got a great cast and a wickedly violent, sexy, sickeningly funny script. Sean Penn, Jennifer Lopez, Billy Bob Thornton, Claire Danes, Joaquin Phoenix, Jon Voigt, Powers Boothe and Nick Nolte star in a cowboy film noir; a radiator hose comedy which racks up a body count and a blood spray that would do Shakespeare proud.

U Turn isn't for the faint hearted but it's a surprising film. U Turn won't be forgotten in a hurry.

Sean Penn plays Bobby, an on the run hustler trapped in a small town called Superior in Arizona with a broken down car. His vehicle gets seized upon by Darrell, a hideous car repairer, played by a horribly grimy Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade, One False Move). Darrell is just one of the vivid characters paraded by Oliver Stone.

Soon Grace (Jennifer Lopez) turns up, a sultry, sexy temptress who soon catches Bobby's attention. Jennifer Lopez has quickly become one of the modern cinema's screen goddesses, first catching attention in Money Train, Anaconda, Jack and then in one of the best dramas of last year Blood And Wine. She's talented as well as being very sexy. She's a New York girl with a Latino background.

Then there's Claire Danes (Romeo And Juliet) as the local bimbo who together with her jealous boyfriend played by Joaquin Phoenix (River's brother) create startling funny situations for poor Bobby to try to wriggle out of.

Nick Nolte doesn't add much as Jake, Grace's husband but that's to be expected from Nick Nolte. Jon Voigt is a soothsaying blind Indian and you'll notice Liv Tyler if you don't blink.

Oliver Stone has enlisted the same cameraman for U Turn as he did for Natural Born Killers. There's a similar parade of off beat images, weird camera angles and close ups, jarring quick sound and vision bites. U Turn is nearly as exhausting and as exhilarating as Natural Born Killers.

There are some shared jokes, such as a grisly parade of road kill to open U Turn (Remember that squashed scorpion in the opening moments of Natural born Killers?) ,but thankfully Robert Downey Jr doesn't get let out of jail to do another awful Aussie Accent in U Turn.

If you like this sort of thing, U Turn requires two viewings!