Stone cold
As film noir goes, U-Turn is all pulp and no meat
No director in the world has received the sustained media attention of Stone, yet the current spin on all this is that he is somehow an innocent party in the hoopla. The New York Times Magazine recently ran a Stone profile that quoted an associate as saying, "The media make you into a god, and then they kill you. And Oliver has been experiencing a difficult death." Is anybody buying this self-serving, bullying masochism? I'm not aware that, outside his own circle, Stone has ever been deified. As for the "killing," it can't match the stroking, which lately includes not only the Times profile but a recent Atlantic essay by Garry Wills comparing Stone to Dostoevsky.
Stone not only receives sustained media attention, he covets it. That attention is what gives his movies the force of manifestoes even when they're little more than screeds. It's understandable that, in U-Turn, he would want to make a movie that for once is not hashed out on the op-ed pages. But one shouldn't overvalue the film's smallness just because it's not trying to grab headlines. Actually, the film is getting the headlines anyway--for being small. That's the stamp of a true media-manipulator champ.
U-Turn.
Directed by Oliver Stone. Written by John Ridley. Starring Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Jennifer Lopez, Billy Bob Thornton, Claire Danes, and Jon Voight. Opens Friday.
Now Showing
Find capsule reviews, showtimes & tickets for all films in town.
Join My Voice Nation for free stuff, film info & more!
Now Trending
![A Man Was Gunned Down Last Night in Southlake's Town Square [Updated]](http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/common/assets/701554.75x75.jpg)
Movie Trailers
-
Voice Places
Find everything you're looking for in your city
-
Happy Hour App
Find the best happy hour deals in your city
-
Daily Deals
Get today's exclusive deals at savings of anywhere from 50-90%
-
Best Of...
Check out the hottest list of places and things to do around your city
- Profile
- Newsletters
- Mobile
- Logout
