Film Review: Reviewed By Adrian Turner; 4 out of 5

After the information overload of Nixon and the controversy of Natural Born Killers, director Oliver Stone made this low-budget thriller. It's a rarity from the normally serious director - a surreal black comedy sometimes worthy of Buñuel that pays passing tribute to Red Rock West and the pulp fiction of Jim Thompson. Sean Penn stars as the mysterious drifter who arrives in Superior, Arizona, and becomes embroiled in a small-town conspiracy involving local flirt Jennifer Lopez and her husband Nick Nolte. Lending practised support are Powers Boothe and Billy Bob Thornton, while Jon Voight is almost unrecognisable as a blind native American. As a sustained mood piece, the movie is a triumph.

Plot Summary

A gambler on the run from bookies he owes money to ends up stranded in a desert town. After an encounter with a seductive local woman, he is approached by her older husband who offers him cash to kill her. He also has to contend with a conniving mechanic and a teenager struggling to escape her abusive boyfriend. Oliver Stone's black comedy thriller, starring Sean Penn, Jennifer Lopez and Nick Nolte.