Oliver Stone directed this
John Ridley screenplay adapted from Ridley's novel
Stray Dogs. A drifter (
Sean Penn) eludes Las Vegas collection agents and arrives in a small town where he decides to linger after his car has a breakdown. Here he gets involved with the locals, including an unhappily married couple -- a businessman (
Nick Nolte) and his seductive, femme-fatale wife (
Jennifer Lopez). A trailer trash teen (
Claire Danes) also approaches him in an effort to get away from her abusive boyfriend (
Joaquin Phoenix). Tensions in the town escalate, eventually leading to murder. Stone wanted to change the title from U-Turn back to
Stray Dogs but encountered a problem with
Akira Kurosawa, who felt it was too similar to his detective classic,
Stray Dog (1949) with
Toshiro Mifune. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide