U Turn (1997)
Itâs a good time to be an Oliver Stone fan. Or at the very least itâs a good time to be thinking about Oliver Stone. His latest film Snowden has just hit cinemas but more interestingly, Matt Zoller Seitz recently published The Oliver Stone Experience; a massive coffee-table book anchored by a career-spanning interview with Stone himself that also features endless paraphernalia from his movies as well as critical essays and various supporting materials. Itâs a gorgeous tome that approaches Stoneâs body of work with a seriousness and respect that his detractors - of which there are many - might find unnecessary and ridiculous. As someone who has a bit of a âtake him or leave himâ attitude to Stone, the book inspired me to look at the manâs filmography again and finally fill in a few blank spots. As expected, the journey has been rocky. Occasionally thrilling, often frustrating, always long; watching an Oliver Stone movie - from any era of his career - is full of highs and lows but, to re-iterate the title of Seitzâ book, at least itâs an experience.
In the last few weeks Iâve watched, for the first time: Salvador, Talk Radio, Born on the Fourth of July, The Doors, U Turn and Nixon. Iâm not going to talk about the best (Nixon). Iâm not going to talk about the worst (Talk Radio, probably). As I sit pretty comfortably in the middle of the Oliver Stone is great/Oliver Stone sucks balls debate, Iâm going full middle ground. So lets talk about U Turn. Â
After completing the gargantuan Nixon, Stone turned his attention to a smaller, genre based canvas much like he did with Natural Born Killers following his JFK, Heaven & Earth double whammy, and made a whacked out, fish-out-of-water story unfolding under the scorching Arizona sun. Sean Penn plays a drifter called Bobby whose car breaks down and leaves him stranded in the town of Superior which turns out to be the kind of nightmarish hellhole-as metaphorical purgatory most criminals hope to never step foot in. Left to the mercy of the townâs freakish locals, Bobby is forced to deal with an oafish mechanic (an almost unrecognisable Billy Bob Thornton, 50 pounds overweight), a corrupt Sheriff (Powers Boothe), a blind Indian (Jon Voight, neither blind nor Indian) and most substantially: a sultry temptress, Grace (Jennifer Lopez) and her jealous, oppressive husband Jake (Nick Nolte). Thereâs a sense that any of these characters could put a bullet in Bobbyâs head if the right excuse came along and if that wasnât enough, thereâs a bunch of mobsters after him for an unpaid debt and theyâve already chopped off three of his fingers. If it sounds like thereâs a lot going on, itâs because there is.
Utilising the same maximalist, multi-format visual style that defined most of Stoneâs 90s work, U Turn almost falls afoul of the same pitfalls that hampered subsequent films such as Any Given Sunday and Savages as well as earlier works like JFK depending who youâre talking to. Every line of dialogue seems to dictate a cut. The visual language is a helter skelter of perspectives, close-ups and montage. Itâs ridiculously busy for such a stripped back story but somehow the overkill feels right here. Itâs not so much a fish out of water story as it is a fish out of water decomposing in the desert story. The sun-scorched, grainy photography, alternating between 16mm and 35mm and mixing traditional with wide-angle lenses, is in love with all the nasty details. Cinematographer Robert Richardson, here completing the last in an eleven-film run with Stone, really pushes his lens into the most surreal corners. If somebody sweats, an individual sweat bead is granted a close-up, if somebody has a drink weâre sure to see the string of saliva between the bottle and their lips. Roadkill and naked bodies are presented with the same indulgence. From bodily fluids to dusty concrete, you can really feel all the textures. Part of the fun of U Turn is being immersed in such a heightened, extreme aesthetic. Thereâs even a bugged out Ennio Morricone score thrown in for good measure. Is this Stoneâs take on the Leone western? Itâs more like a cartoon, further emphasized by the directorâs penchant for goofy sound design stings and the nutty performances.
Itâs saying something when Sean Penn, notorious for his grandiose characters, plays the straight man in your movie. He navigates the rest of the cast with a constant perplexed look on behalf of the audience. By the time Joaquin Phoenix shows up as a confrontational rockabilly called Toby N. Tucker, or TNT as the shaved initials in the back of his head will clarify, Pennâs only reaction is to surrender to the absurdity with a blink. Ofcourse his nickname is TNT. Everyone seems to be having a blast playing ugly and dastardly, their cackling faces often distorted by Richardsonâs lens. Jennifer Lopez, as the sole female in the core cast, is there to look sexy and seductive in a floaty orange dress but even she emerges as a cunning villainess. Itâd be easy to question Stoneâs gender politics (as many have with his previous work) but much like Jennifer Jason Leigh in last yearâs The Hateful Eight, Lopez is only as sensationalised and contemptible as her male counterparts. Iâm not sure how many of these performances I would consider âgreatâ but all of them are extremely entertaining even if some are in bad taste. I mean, Jon Voight as a blind Indian doing the same accent he used in Anaconda the same year? Thatâs an instance of Stoneâs judgement being way off but I canât deny finding it somewhat hilarious and definitely memorable. Itâd be easy to praise Billy Bob Thorntonâs commitment to the project due to his weight gain too, but part of me suspects he just enjoyed getting a fat paycheck from over-eating for a few months. (Sidenote: remember all of those chameleon-like character parts Thornton indulged in during the 90s? Itâs easy to forget his characters in Sling Blade, One False Move, A Simple Plan and Armageddon are all played by the same actor. Good work Billy Bob!)
As the film goes on it becomes increasingly ridiculous and overwrought. Murder plots unspool within murder plots and revelations of incest arenât far behind. Thereâs a bag of money, last minute betrayals and outbursts of violence in both the noir and grindhouse traditions. By the end of U Turn, those left standing are hampered with broken bones, covered in scratches and bathed in sticky blood slowly turning to gloop under the burning sunlight. Stoneâs sick and twisted sense of humour permeates throughout the entire story and his predatory direction tries its hardest to incriminate the audience in all the sleaze and scumbaggery. You feel like youâve just been dragged through the seven circles of hell and all you can do is laugh like a psychopath. It isnât as unruly or as experimental as something like Natural Born Killers - a film I originally thought this one preceded as itâs one of the few films more overblown than U Turn (also a better one on the whole) - but shares its sense of graphic frenzy. One of the few times in his career, here we can see Stone not working in an explicitly political mode and his primary goal seems to be to entertain and exhilarate the audience which he achieves to varying degrees of success. The hyperreal visuals and cutting will work depending on your tolerance - imagine the final cocaine-infused 20 minutes of Goodfellas stretched to two hours - but as a fan of bold strokes and violent aesthetics, I just about got on board with it. This style would reach breaking point in Stoneâs truly irritating Any Given Sunday but anchored in this genre framework, the explosive close-ups and relentless cuts can be eye-poppingly expressionistic. Some of the individual shots are lurid and stunning in equal measure. Itâs bonkers but I dug it.
After U Turn, everything seemed to go downhill for Stone. Critical support and audience opinion deteriorated to the point where it now takes a coffee table book to potentially begin a reappraisal of the manâs work. Digging into his filmography with a more open mind, I found myself appreciating all of Stoneâs overindulgences and crazed obsessiveness. Itâs with these eyes I first watched U Turn and, while certainly not an especially great film, it looks and feels exclusively like an Oliver Stone movie. And you know what? I enjoyed the experience. Â - Ross
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