USA: OSCAR-WINNING DIRECTOR OLIVER STONE BRING TO THE SCREEN "U-TURN", AN UNORTHODOX FILM STARRING SEAN PENN ABOUT A MAN WHOSE CAR BREAKS DOWN IN THE DESERT

Record ID: 387175

  • Title: USA: OSCAR-WINNING DIRECTOR OLIVER STONE BRING TO THE SCREEN "U-TURN", AN UNORTHODOX FILM STARRING SEAN PENN ABOUT A MAN WHOSE CAR BREAKS DOWN IN THE DESERT
  • Date: 20th September 1997
  • Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (SEPTEMBER 22) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) (SOUNDBITE ENGLISH) OLIVER STONE SAYING, "I MEAN I'VE PLAYED WITH SO MANY STYLES NOW THAT I DON'T WANT TO BE DEFINED NOR TO BE CATEGORISED. I MEAN I'VE MADE FILMS ABOUT POLITICS, ABOUT WAR, ABOUT ROCK MUSIC. IT'S JUST I WANT TO BE FREE SO EACH TIME I DON'T WANT TO HAVE DEFINITION. DEFINITION KILLS, IT AGES YOU AND
  • Embargoed: 5th October 1997 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVARZG7TXPXY9WWIT3G4CMU00TZ
  • Story Text: Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone takes a break from controversial movies with a social conscience to bring to the screen "U-Turn," an unorthodox film starring Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Jennifer Lopez and Billy Bob Thornton.

    Stone and his cast were at the film's Los Angeles premiere on Monday (September 22).

    Penn plays Bobby Cooper, a small-time gambler who's on his way to Las Vegas to pay off a debt to some Russian gansters.

    Along the way, his car breaks down in the desert town of Superior, Arizona. That's just the start of his troubles.

    He then meets the beautiful Grace McKenna, played by Lopez and her powerful husband Jake, played by Nolte.

    The couple draw Bobby into a deadly game of lust, madness and money. Both offer him a way to collect the money he needs to fix his car and be on his way -- kill one for the other.

    In the midst of dealing with the dysfunctional McKennas, Bobby also has to contend with a psychotic auto mechanic played by "Slingblade's" Billy Bob Thornton, a local sherrif played by Powers Boothe, an amorous teenager played by Claire Danes and her violently jealous boyfriend played by Joaquin Phoenix.

    Stone and company filmed "U-Turn" in 42 days and on location in the real town of Superior, Arizona. The town is close to the heart of Apache Country and the aptly-named dark ridges overlooking the site, "Apache Teras," from which many Indians leaped to their death rather than submit to the United States Army.

    Stone has blended several genres to create "U-Turn." It's a film noir with melodrama mixed with western elements and touches of black comedy. It also contains a healthy dose of violence that fans of Stone are used to from his previous film, the controversial "Natural Born Killers." In all, Stone has been nominated for 11 Academy Awards, as screenwriter, producer and director. He has won three Oscars, for writing "Midnight Express," and for directing "Born on the Fourth of July" and "Platoon." His other films include the historical dramas "JFK," "Nixon" and "The Doors." "U-Turn" opens in the United States on Friday (October 3).
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