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Jayne Mansfield's Car

Play trailer Poster for Jayne Mansfield's Car R 2013 2h 2m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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33% Tomatometer 36 Reviews 41% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
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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Jayne Mansfield's Car

Jayne Mansfield's Car

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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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Critics Reviews

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Richard Brody The New Yorker 09/16/2013
There's a terrific movie struggling to escape from this overplotted, overedited, overdetermined stew ... Go to Full Review
Godfrey Cheshire RogerEbert.com 09/13/2013
2/4
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. Go to Full Review
Alonso Duralde TheWrap 09/13/2013
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. Go to Full Review
Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com 08/28/2019
This is one car wreck that neither provides us with survivors nor takes any victims. In other words, there's absolutely nothing there. Go to Full Review
Asia Frey Lagniappe (Mobile, AL) 08/22/2018
While the slow build of the story was effective, there was also an abruptness to events employed that was extremely realistic and moving. Go to Full Review
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews 01/13/2015
C+
Zany but strained period piece dramedy. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Stephen C @bob25009 Jul 23 2 hours and 2 minutes based on a true story!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated R for Language, Drug Use, Nudity, Sexual Content and Some Bloody Images!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The USA grossed over $14,400.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See more Billy B Mar 31 It had its funny moments Slow at times but worth watching See more Martin B Mar 6 Very strange movie. Loaded with some really good actors doing great acting but the script lets them all down. Like they're trying to do a southern themed masterpiece with a British twist based on simmering family, patriarchal based dysfunction like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof but it doesn't come together in any kind of cohesive manner. The ending just left me asking that's it? Anyway I loved it simply to see great actors do the most with the lines they were given. Especially Katherine LaNassa, perfectly cast as the cheating, aging southern bell who at times looked like she could tie the whole thing together but in the end felt used and discarded. A swing and a miss for Billy Bob who shot for cinematic greatness coming many years after the acclaim of Sling Blade but came up short. See more Dawn K Jan 28 Worst of the worst. See more Mike M 08/22/2023 Wow I LOVED this movie!! Called both my boys after. Thanks all for this. Not what the low reviews are about. See more Ted B @Movieaddicted 07/08/2023 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. See more Read all reviews
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Movie Info

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
Producer
Alexander Rodnyansky, J. Geyer Kosinski
Screenwriter
Billy Bob Thornton, Tom Epperson
Distributor
Anchor Bay
Production Co
Media Talent Group, A.R. Films
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
Runtime
2h 2m
Sound Mix
SDDS, Dolby Digital
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