Stats:

Movie:
U-Turn

Stars:
Sean Penn; Nick Nolte; Billy Bob Thornton

Date: 1997

Bottom Line:
Highly Recommend, but be prepared to deal with adult subject matter.

I really liked this film! Warning - this movie looks a lot like an art house movie and at first is a little hard to follow. I think this will be virtually impossible to follow on a small tv screen, so catch it in a theatre if you can. There are tons of plot twists. It's very much like a film noir. All of the action takes place over a day & a half as you literally follow Sean Penn around the sleepy town of Superior, Arizona after he gets stranded there on his way to Vegas. Every possible piece of bad luck he could possibly have happens. There is some violence, but none of it is gratuitous & is key to the plot.

I thought at the time that U-Turn would have been up for editing & writing oscars, but it was ignored by the Academy. This has an edgy, independent film quality. Sean Penn is excellent as is the rest of the cast. Strongly do NOT recommend this film for children or younger teens. This is movie for grown-ups! Also, be forewarned that this is a long movie - 2 hours.