Jayne Mansfields Car

Plot

The film is set in 1969 Morrison, Alabama. The Caldwell family includes three World War II veterans—brothers played by Thornton, Bacon and Patrick—their sister Donna (LaNasa), and a patriarch, Jim Caldwell (Duvall), who is a World War I veteran. The Caldwells are involved in a cultural clash with the Bedfords, a family which includes Phillip (Stevenson), a World War II veteran, his sister Camilla (O'Connor), and their father Kingsley (Hurt), also a World War I veteran.

The Bedfords are a London family who, as is revealed in the film, are in the Caldwell hometown for the funeral of Kingsley's wife, who is the ex-wife of Jim Caldwell and the mother of Caldwell's children. Duvall described the film in an interview as "putting Tennessee Williams in the back seat".

The film's title refers to the automobile in which movie star Jayne Mansfield was supposedly decapitated in 1967. When a nearby town has a side show displaying the vehicle, Jim Caldwell takes Kingsley Bedford along to gawk at the grisly artifact.

Cast

Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 35% approval rating with an average rating of 5.4/10 based on 34 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "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."