U Turn (1997)

U Turn poster

TriStar Pictures
Starring:
 Sean Penn, Jennifer Lopez, Julie Hagerty
Directed by: Oliver Stone

Cat Out of the Bag Alert!  This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: Bobby Cooper (Sean Penn) is a weasley deadbeat who finds himself stranded when his car breaks down in a quirky desert town and things slowly spiral out of control.

Kitty Cameos: At the beginning of the film Bobby is driving on a desert road. A cat suddenly appears out of nowhere and darts in front of his car.

U Turn - cat running in front of car

Kitty Carnage Warning!  The cat stops and hisses at the approaching car and is then hit. A very graphic shot of the cat post-hit is shown (we will spare you that grab). A fake cat was used to show the hitting of the cat and the after effect.

U Turn - close up of cat hissing

Later after Bobby gets stranded he walks into a local diner. As he sits at the counter a tabby cat rubs up against his leg.

U Turn - tabby cat rubbing up against leg on barstool

Kitty Carnage Warning!  Bobby ends up kicking the cat away. According to the American Humane Association website the cat actor was merely lifted gently by the actor’s leg and the film was then sped up to make it look like a kick.

U Turn - tabby cat rubbing up against leg on barstool

Later in the same scene Bobby is trying to sneak some money from the cash register while Flo the waitress (Julie Hagerty) isn’t looking. The tabby cat suddenly appears, jumping up and running across the open drawer and scaring Bobby. A shot of the previous cat hissing on the road is spliced in as well.

U Turn - tabby cat Chester below cash register drawer

U Turn - tabby cat Chester jumps up on cash register drawer startling Bobby Sean Penn

Flo scolds the cat (we think she says his name is Chester) and lifts him down.

U Turn - close up of tabby cat Chester

U Turn - Flo Julie Hagerty lifts down tabby cat Chester

U Turn - Flo Julie Hagerty lifts down tabby cat Chester

Finally during a quiet moment at dusk a pretty Snowshoe cat is seen sitting with a dog.

U Turn - Snowshoe cat sitting with dog

Final Mewsings: Hurting cats will bring you nothing but bad karma!

Many thanks to Nick Wale for reminding us of the cats in this movie.


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