The Movie:  Definitely a strange film from Oliver Stone, U Turn follows Bobby Cooper (Sean Penn) as his car breaks down and he ends up in the small town of Superior, AZ, where everyone seems to be stupider than dirt or more conniving than most politicians. It all combines to make for a hilarious movie at times with some great drama. I didn't think I'd enjoy this movie, but it was actually very fun - with the spectacular cast all acting like complete crazies throughout. From Billy Bob Thornton to Claire Danes to Joaquin Phoenix, the cast does a great job and is the main reason this movie is enjoyable.

The Picture:  The picture was actually quite crisp with a great transfer. The colors are bright - as it is all set in a small desert town - and are portrayed well. There's only a couple dark scenes and the darkness plays out well and is great contrast to the brightness of the rest of the movie.

The Sound:  I didn't think sound would play a big role in this movie, but it does. The Dolby 5.1 stands out quite a lot and sounds great with this DVD. The underlying score/soundtrack fits in perfectly with the movie and definitely adds to the movie in a great way.

Special Features: Trailer along with both widescreen and full-screen versions of the film.

The Extras:  There aren't any extras on this disc unfortunately, but you can count me in if there's ever a special edition of this disc (which I hope will come soon - I'd love an Oliver Stone commentary).

The Insert:  Surprisingly, since this is just a plain old regular edition disc with no real etras, the insert is very good. 3 pages, front and back, the front features some pictures from the movie and the back has the list of chapters. Inside though, it talks about the film from the start when it was a book with interviews with director Stone, production designers Flach and Kempster, and director of photography Richardson. It gives some great insight into the film and some extra info for those interested.

Conclusion:  U Turn is an odd film and not everyone will like it. For some odd reason, I liked it, and therefore I liked the DVD. The bad part of this disc is that there are no extras and there's a $28 price tag - way too steep for no extras. If you've seen the movie and liked it or you like Oliver Stone movies, go for it, but if not, you most likely won't like it. The cast is superb with some hilarious performances by Claire Danes, Billy Bob Thornton, Joaquin Phoenix, Powers Boothe, Nick Nolte, and others. An odd combination, but it works - for some strange reason.

Genres: Drama, Thriller
Rated: R | 125 minutes
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Catalog #: 32529 | ISBN: 0-7678-0576-3