Jayne Mansfield's Car
{{Infobox film
| name = Jayne Mansfield's Car
| image = Jayne Mansfield's Car.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = Billy Bob Thornton
| producer = Alexander Rodnyansky
Geyer Kosinski
| writer = Billy Bob Thornton
Tom Epperson
| starring = Robert Duvall
John Hurt
Billy Bob Thornton
Kevin Bacon
Robert Patrick
Ray Stevenson
Katherine LaNasa
Frances O'Connor
| music = Owen Easterling Hatfield
| cinematography = Barry Markowitz
| editing = Lauren Zuckerman
| studio = A.R. Films
Aldamisa Entertainment
Media Talent Group
| distributor = Anchor Bay Films
Aldamisa Releasing
| released = {{film date|2012|2|13|Berlin|2013|9|13|United States|ref2={{cite web|url=https://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=92893|title=Jayne Mansfield's Car|website=ComingSoon.net|publisher=Mandatory|access-date=August 22, 2018|archive-date=January 22, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140122231753/http://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=92893|url-status=dead}}}}
| runtime = 122 minutes
| country = United States
Russia
| language = English
| budget =
| gross = $79,178{{cite web|url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=jaynemansfieldscar.htm|title=Jayne Mansfield's Car|website=Box Office Mojo|publisher=IMDb|access-date=August 22, 2018}}
}}
Jayne Mansfield's Car is a 2012 drama film directed by Billy Bob Thornton, marking his first fiction directing job since 2000's All the Pretty Horses. Thornton also stars alongside Robert Duvall, John Hurt, Kevin Bacon, Ray Stevenson, Frances O'Connor, Ron White, and Robert Patrick.{{cite web | url=https://deadline.com/2011/06/billy-bob-thornton-sets-cast-funding-for-first-directing-effort-in-decade-139844/ | title=Billy Bob Thornton Sets Cast, Funding For First Directing Effort In Decade | access-date=June 15, 2011 |website=Deadline Hollywood |date=June 14, 2011 |last=Fleming |first=Mike Jr.}} The film had its world premiere at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival in February 2012.{{cite web|url=https://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/2012/08_pressemitteilungen_2012/08_pressemitteilungen_2012detail_12436.html |title=Taviani, Petzold and Billy Bob Thornton: World Premieres in the Competition and Angelina Jolie's Directorial Debut in the New Cinema at the 'Haus der Berliner Festspiele' |date=January 9, 2012 |access-date=January 9, 2012 |publisher=Berlin International Film Festival |work=Annual Archives: 2012 |author=Press Office}} The film was released in limited release on September 13, 2013.
One of the locations in which the movie was shot is Cedartown, Georgia, USA.{{cite web | url=http://www.onlocationvacations.com/2011/06/04/jayne-mansfields-car-set-to-shoot-in-cedartown-ga-extras-needed/ | title=UPDATE: 'Jayne Mansfield's Car' set to shoot in Cedartown, GA, Extras Needed |work=On Location Vacations |date=June 4, 2011 |access-date=August 22, 2018 |author=Christine}} Exterior home shots were filmed in Troup County, Georgia,{{cite web |url=http://www.lagrangenews.com/view/full_story/14461730/article-Movie-crew-to-film-in-Troup? |title=Movie crew to film in Troup |work=LaGrange Daily News |author=Staff Reports |date=June 24, 2011 |access-date=August 22, 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130127122656/http://www.lagrangenews.com/view/full_story/14461730/article-Movie-crew-to-film-in-Troup? |archive-date=January 27, 2013 }} while additional scenes were shot in Decatur, Georgia.{{cite web|last=Varela |first=Anna |url=http://decatur.patch.com/articles/film-crew-comes-to-decatur |title=Billy Bob Thornton, Kevin Bacon Shoot Film in Decatur |publisher=Patch Media |work=Decatur-Avondale Estates Patch |date=July 5, 2011 |access-date=September 12, 2012}} For the Greek Revival home, the interior shots were filmed at The Bailey-Tebault House located in Griffin, Georgia.
Plot
The film is set in 1969 Morrison, Alabama. The Caldwell family includes two World War II veterans, their sister Donna, brother Jimbo and a patriarch, Jim, who is a World War I veteran. The Caldwells are involved in a cultural clash with the Bedfords, a family which includes Phillip, a World War II veteran, his sister Camilla, and their father Kingsley, also a World War I veteran.
The Bedfords are a London family in Morrison 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".{{cite web | url=https://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/robert-duvall-cast-in-billy-bob-thorntons-film-jayne-mansfields-car/ | title=Robert Duvall cast in Billy Bob Thornton's film Jayne Mansfield's Car | access-date=June 15, 2011 |work=We Got This Covered |first=Will |last=Chadwick |date=June 15, 2011}}
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
{{Cast listing|
- Robert Duvall as Jim Caldwell
- John Hurt as Kingsley Bedford
- Billy Bob Thornton as Skip Caldwell
- Kevin Bacon as Carroll Caldwell
- Robert Patrick as Jimbo Caldwell
- Ray Stevenson as Phillip Bedford
- Frances O'Connor as Camilla Bedford
- Katherine LaNasa as Donna Baron
- Marshall Allman as Alan Caldwell
- Shawnee Smith as Vicky Caldwell
- John Patrick Amedori as Mickey Caldwell
- Ron White as Neil Barron
- Irma P. Hall as Dorothy Lambert
- Carissa Capobianco as April Barron
- Karli Barnett as Autumn Barron
- Tippi Hedren as Naomi Caldwell (uncredited; her scenes were cut){{cite web|url=https://collider.com/billy-bob-thornton-jayne-mansfields-car-bad-santa-2-interview/|title=Billy Bob Thornton Talks JAYNE MANSFIELD'S CAR, Getting Back in the Director's Chair, BAD SANTA 2, FX's FARGO Miniseries, and More|work=Collider|publisher=Complex Media|access-date=August 22, 2018|date=September 14, 2013|first=Christina|last=Radish|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200103151259/https://collider.com/billy-bob-thornton-jayne-mansfields-car-bad-santa-2-interview/|archive-date=January 3, 2020|url-status=live}}
}}
Reception
{{Rotten Tomatoes prose|35|5.4|37|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.|access-date=December 28, 2020|ref=yes}} {{Metacritic film prose|48|18|ref=yes|access-date=August 22, 2018}}
PopMatters contributor J.C. Macek III found criticism in Thornton's unfocused direction of the multiple stories and the screenplay being more suited for a mini-series than a condensed two hour film filled with vignettes. He did however give praise to the performances for adding substance to their given arcs, singling out Bacon, O'Connor and White as the highlights.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.popmatters.com/179006-jayne-mansfields-car-2495688687.html|title='Jayne Mansfield's Car' at the Fringe of the Family|last=Macek III|first=J.C.|magazine=PopMatters|date=February 14, 2014|access-date=October 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201008092615/https://www.popmatters.com/179006-jayne-mansfields-car-2495688687.html|archive-date=October 8, 2020|url-status=live}} Norm Schrager from Paste commended Thornton's direction for bringing out great performances from the cast and his scenes having competent execution but felt the film overall suffered from "a distinctive lack of cohesiveness" throughout the script in its handling of plot concepts and themes, concluding that: "[T]here's something here. It just needs a clearer road to travel."{{cite magazine|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/jayne-mansfields-car/|title=Jayne Mansfield's Car|last=Schrager|first=Norm|magazine=Paste|publisher=Wolfgang's Vault|date=September 26, 2013|access-date=February 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201008092612/https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/jayne-mansfields-car/|archive-date=October 8, 2020|url-status=live}} Alonso Duralde of TheWrap also voiced problems with Thornton and Epperson's screenplay, calling it "too sprawling and [too] tidy" with its generational family drama and misuse of plot devices towards the third act.{{cite web|url=https://www.thewrap.com/jayne-mansfields-car-review-overloaded-star-vehicle-tends-to-drag/|title='Jayne Mansfield's Car' Review: Overloaded Star Vehicle Tends to Drag|last=Duralde|first=Alonso|author-link=Alonso Duralde|website=TheWrap|date=September 13, 2013|access-date=October 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212174346/https://www.thewrap.com/jayne-mansfields-car-review-overloaded-star-vehicle-tends-to-drag/|archive-date=February 12, 2020|url-status=live}} Claudia Puig of USA Today felt the familial themes were elevated by "intriguingly impressionistic cinematography and a strong ensemble cast", but criticized the characterization of both families for containing stereotypical rednecks and stuffy aristocrats that conduct "tedious monologues and theatrical speechifying" and the misuse of the film's title for lacking "insight and depth." She concluded that: "Self-indulgent, heavy-handed and lumbering, Jayne Mansfield's Car is not a wreck, but it's certainly a vehicle for boredom."{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2013/09/12/jayne-mansfields-car-review/2802843/|title=Family Drama 'Jayne Mansfield's Car' stalls out|last=Puig|first=Claudia|newspaper=USA Today|publisher=Gannett|date=September 12, 2013|access-date=June 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191109150832/https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2013/09/12/jayne-mansfields-car-review/2802843/|archive-date=November 9, 2019|url-status=live}} {{Rating|2|4}}
References
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External links
- {{IMDb title}}
- {{Rotten Tomatoes}}
- {{Metacritic film}}
- {{mojo title|jaynemansfieldscar}}
{{Billy Bob Thornton}}
{{Jayne Mansfield}}
Category:2010s English-language films
Category:English-language drama films
Category:Films directed by Billy Bob Thornton
Category:Films set in the 1960s