U Turn is a 1997 American neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Oliver Stone and starring Sean Penn, Billy Bob Thornton, Jennifer Lopez, Jon Voight, Powers Boothe, Joaquin Phoenix, Claire Danes, and Nick Nolte. It is based on the book Stray Dogs by John Ridley, who also wrote the screenplay. Plot Bobby Cooper is a drifter in debt to a violent gangster when his car breaks down in Superior, Arizona. Stranded and broke, he meets Jake and Grace McKenna, a father and his stepdaughter who are also a married couple. They separately approach Bobby to kill the other for money. Desperate and in fear, Bobby approaches Jake about killing Grace. He becomes attracted to Grace and agrees to kill Jake, then he and Grace can be together and use Jake's money for a new start somewhere else. With Grace's help, Bobby kills Jake, and they leave together with $200,000. As they make their way out of Superior, the Sheriff, with whom Grace has been having an affair, stops them. Grace shoots and kills the sheriff. As they dump the bodies, Grace pushes Bobby over the cliff, severely injuring him. Grace suddenly realizes that Bobby has the car keys. Grace makes her way down the steep incline where she and Bobby fight, and in his weakened, injured state, Bobby kills Grace, but she also shoots him in the belly. He makes the grueling journey back up the cliff with a broken leg, then starts the car, but the radiator hose bursts, and Bobby is stranded in the heat, injured and dying. Cast Sean Penn as Bobby Cooper Jennifer Lopez as Grace McKenna Nick Nolte as Jake McKenna Powers Boothe as Sheriff Virgil Potter Claire Danes as Jenny Joaquin Phoenix as Toby N. "TNT" Tucker Jon Voight as Blind Indian Billy Bob Thornton as Darrell Abraham Benrubi as Biker #1 Sean Stone as Boy In Grocery Store Ilia Volok as Sergei Valery Nikolaev as Mr. Arkady Brent Briscoe as Ed Bo Hopkins as Boyd Julie Hagerty as Flo Sheri Foster as Grace's Mother Liv Tyler as Girl In Bus Station (Cameo) Laurie Metcalf as Bus Station Ticket Attendant Production U Turn was filmed during November 1996–January 1997 on location in Superior, Arizona and other areas of Arizona and California, including the Coachella Valley. It was filmed entirely on Reversal stock, 5239, to give an extra harsh look to the hostile environment. Casting