Jayne Mansfield's Car

R

Released Sep 13, 2013

2 hr. 2 min.

Drama

List

35%

37 Reviews

Tomatometer

41%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

After his ex-wife's death, a Southern patriarch (Robert Duvall) and his offspring meet the British family for whom she left them.

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Critics Consensus

Jayne Mansfield's Car assembles an impressive number of talented actors, but the screenplay -- co-written by director and star Billy Bob Thornton -- never gives them much of anything to do.

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Mike M

Wow I LOVED this movie!! Called both my boys after. Thanks all for this. Not what the low reviews are about.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/22/23

Full Review

Ted B

3.5 stars; I don't even know where to start talking about this movie. While watching it, I never really picked up on a theme. It seemed like a series of old back-country stories not well strung together. . That was more or less what I expected being a Billy Bob Thornton creation. Instead of it being about one character like in "Swing Blade", it was about a number of characters centered about the family patriarch played by Robert Duvall. The characters were very real, But just not compelling. I am using the term family very loosely here. It was more like a group of people living together sharing some kinship. It isn't until the end when the youngest son decides to go off and join the Army that i picked up on a theme The time period was 1969 and the Vietnam war was still raging. There was much discussion about war experience during the picture for all the sons. I realized that the ongoing theme was the PTSD condition each of the sons and father carried with them. It became exasperated when forced into a culture class (American and British) between families, that shared their mother between them, when she dies. With all of my disappointments being said, I did enjoy the masterful acting from Duval and John Hurt, done in non-challenging roles. Good performances were also given by Thornton and Kevin Bacon. This movie was made over 10 years ago, When all of this cast was in their prime. It's a shame that the roles given weren't more challenging. For me, this is a very negative review. So why 3.5 stars?.... 2 reasons. I truly love Robert Duvall in just about every role I've seen him play. So there's that bias. And, I viewed this film, as a father of three sons, through the eyes of the Duval character. It hit home to me in many ways.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

07/08/23

Full Review

James W

Yes, it is sprawling, and yes, there are myriad secondary plots all occurring simultaneously, but all the critics fail to recognize the overriding theme of the movie. And no, it is not dysfunctional family dynamics, nor is it the clash of British and southern American cultures. It is a movie about PTSD. That is the common wound that each of the male characters carry with them - PTSD from different war experiences (PTSD suffered by Jim-bo, who did not even see combat), by different generations, in different wars, and by different cultures. And each of the male characters is damaged from it in his own way. (The female characters in the movie, not experiencing and not understanding the condition, play only minor roles). The genius of the movie is not in the story; the genius of the movie is that it uses the narrative - including the dysfunctional family dynamics, the clash of British and southern American cultures, and the myriad secondary plots - as the vehicle to shine a light on how the experience of war irreparably damages the lives of war's survivors. The final scene, the long closeup of the pained, anguished look in Kevin Bacon's eyes when his 18-year-old son announces that he has just enlisted in the army to fight in Vietnam is devastating. I found the movie a powerful portrayal of the suffering caused by the trauma of war and a pessimistic presage that future generations of war survivors will inevitably endure the same fate.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/06/23

Full Review

Jonathan F

It's no Daddy and them but it's a good story. The glance at the stuff people didn't walk about for 10 more years is looking at you.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/23/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Not bad , Not Great ....Interesting Discusions ...Good acting ! SOMDVD

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

Full Review

walter m

In "Jayne Mansfield's Car," a woman had run away from her family to start a new one in England. Decades later, she dies. Her last request is to be buried back in her native Alabama which her old family has complicated feelings about, as her new family accompanies her body. "Jayne Mansfield's Car" wastes a very good cast that includes Robert Duvall, John Hurt, Billy Bob Thornton(who also directed and co-wrote), Kevin Bacon, Robert Patrick, Ray Stevenson, Frances O'Connor and Katherine LaNasa on a cliche-ridden story that just seems satisfied with recycling tired stereotypes about the South(strange, considering Thornton is from Arkansas), the English and the 1960's. In fact, France O'Connor is about the only one of the cast to rise above the occasion. Which is a shame because there are some good thoughts via this family haunted by war that the best way to make someone a pacifist is to drop them in a war zone.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Billy Bob Thornton

Director

Robert Duvall

Jim Caldwell

John Hurt

Kingsley Bedford

Kevin Bacon

Carroll Caldwell

Billy Bob Thornton

Skip Caldwell

Katherine LaNasa

Donna

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Richard Brody

New Yorker

There's a terrific movie struggling to escape from this overplotted, overedited, overdetermined stew ...

Sep 16, 2013

Full Review

Godfrey Cheshire

RogerEbert.com

With its sprawling array of characters and anecdotal, ramshackle structure, [the film] feels more like a collection of interrelated short stories cobbled into an flavorful but ultimately unwieldy narrative.

Rated: 2/4

Sep 13, 2013

Full Review

Alonso Duralde

TheWrap

It's one thing to explore the messiness of familial relationships and regret against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, and something else entirely to try and shove every jot and tiddle in place before the closing credits roll.

Sep 13, 2013

Full Review

Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

This is one car wreck that neither provides us with survivors nor takes any victims. In other words, there's absolutely nothing there.

Aug 28, 2019

Full Review

Asia Frey

Lagniappe (Mobile, AL)

While the slow build of the story was effective, there was also an abruptness to events employed that was extremely realistic and moving.

Aug 22, 2018

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Zany but strained period piece dramedy.

Rated: C+

Jan 13, 2015

Full Review

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Synopsis

After his ex-wife's death, a Southern patriarch (Robert Duvall) and his offspring meet the British family for whom she left them.

Director: Billy Bob Thornton
Executive Producer: Mark C. Manuel, Sergei Bespalov, James D. Brubaker, Robert Teitel
Screenwriter: Billy Bob Thornton, Tom Epperson
Distributor: Anchor Bay
Production Co: A.R. Films, Media Talent Group
Rating: R (Language|Drug Use|Nudity|Sexual Content|Some Bloody Images)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 13, 2013, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 15, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $14.4K
Sound Mix: SDDS, Dolby Digital

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