Absolutely the worst movie.

The acting in this movie is really good.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

It has absolutely nothing to do with Jayne and the car she was killed in is mentioned only because Robert Duvall's character {Jim Caldwell} is the retired patriarch of a wealthy Alabama family, who spends his spare time listening to police scanners and then going out to visit crash sites. He was a medic in WW1 and must be fascinated with grisly physical injuries. It's never mentioned how the Caldwell family made their money but they have enough that 2 of his sons, Skip {Thornton} & Carroll {Bacon}, live at home and don't have to work. They were each combat veterans in WW2 and now, almost 25 years after the war they seem to spend most of their time drinking beer and smoking dope. They have another brother, Jimbo, who was also a WW2 veteran who didn't see combat but is the responsible brother, who nevertheless is envious that he didn't get to fight as his brothers did. They also have a hot looking sister, Donna {Katherine LaNasa} who had been Miss Alabama years ago and is now married to Neal Baron, a former NFL player who now owns several car dealerships in Atlanta and drinks prodigious amount of beer. The Caldwell family learns that that Jim's estranged wife and their mother Naomi has passed away in England. Her husband of nearly 20 years, Kingsley Bedford {Hurt} and his 2 grown children from a previous marriage, Philip and Camilla and accompanying him to bury Naomi. And that's about it, as far as the plot. The 2 families mingle socially and romantically, as Skip and Camilla discover they both enjoy kinkiness and Donna has a tryst with Philip. Jim reconciles with Kingsley as he takes him to an auto museum to see Jayne's wrecked car. There are some subplots briefly explored. Bacon is about a 50 year old hippie who is leading demonstrations against the Vietnam war to the chagrin of the family. He wants his son to go to college to avoid getting drafted. One of Jim's grandkids is doing acid and spikes his ice tea. The three Caldwell brothers end up bonding together at the end with a joint and beer and jump into one of Skip's muscle cars to ride off into the sunset. Thankfully director and co-writer Thornton didn't have the finish by ending up in a gruesome accident that would bring the father out to visit.It's an uneven movie, but still has some pretty good acting, a few laughs. Not sure how many more movies Robert Duvall may have left in the tank, but this is the type of role he nails. Nice time period piece. The Caldwell's enjoy their Falstaff, a popular beer of the time, gone now for many years.

Jayne Mansfield's Car has a good cast. Director-actor-writer Billy Bob Thornton is joined by other familiar names: Kevin Bacon, John Hurt, Robert Duvall, Frances O'Connor, and Robert Patrick.The death of a clan's estranged wife and mother brings together two very different families: one rural Alabama, and the other British. You can expect fireworks to fly.You will find odd ducks in any family, and there are more than few in these two families. Skip (Thorton) and Camilla (O'Connor) really hit it off, as do Donna (Katherine LaNasa) and Phillip (Ray Stevenson). There is family drama and more than a bit of comedy.Jim Caldwell (Duvall) is obsessed with car wrecks, and takes Kingsley (Hurt) to an exhibit at the dollar store that claims to have Jayne Mansfield's death car on display. Just a little Southern weirdness that spawned the title.It was an enjoyable film.

This comes across as if it were written for the stage. I beg to differ with those who think this an accurate portrayal of the people and situations of the time and place. Not even close. I done been there then. Open on the setting of the entire movie. Small town Alabama in 1969. A family whose patriarch was once married to a woman that left him and married an Englishman twenty years before receives the news she has died. Also, her body accompanied by her widower husband and HIS family is coming back to Alabama for burial. Score ten points if you say this is the type of "Set-up" that multiple black comedies and more recently many more Black as in African American Comedies have been built around. This is neither. I don't honestly know whether that sentence should have started with "Unfortunately".As a result of this event the American family is brought together and many old wounds, scars and stories surface. SPOILER: The two families couple with one another like a group of drunken speed freaks playing spin the bottle at a company picnic for Searle. Well, not quite. They blather about endlessly before, after and instead of. Hey, that IS how I remember speed parties, more talking than poking. At one point Silly Bob Thornton takes off all his clothes in the woods showing what are supposed to be the 80 percent burns he suffered in a WW2 plane crash -- certain the best technique for getting some "pity p***y" I have ever seen. Finally -- and we should be thankful they don't introduce a GAY sex scene here --- VERY VERY grateful..... Robert Duvall and John Hurt, who both are widower of the same woman become bosom buddies. Remember that is just an expression. Pals. Pals with 160 some odd years between them. They take a ride over to see the eponymous Car. Whole scene could be left out, no excuse for it. Like that big ugly seed inside a Mango nobody would miss it were it not there.Next morning, they head out into the nearby forests for a bit of out of season hunting unaware that Duvall has been given some LSD in his iced tea. Now, as someone who used to sell the stuff and has taken hundreds of trips with dosages many times those used by mere mortals I can say that the Acid Trip experience of Mister Duvall is the most accurate portrayal I have ever seen in Cinema. I would guess that he, also, has left this world of Newtonian certainties more than once. Oh, that I could find a ticket today. Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio? Who cares? Tim Leary... Timmy.... Timmy.... My kingdom for a Collie -- a transcendental Lassie to fetch you back... Timmy .... Timmy.... Oh, the movie ends.Like that.

It's obvious that Director/Writer Billy Bob has a lot on His mind. Transferring those thoughts to the page might prove somewhat difficult. Imaging said thoughts on the Screen is even more of a challenge. Although it is a valiant effort, in the end it renders itself flat but occasionally interesting.There are far too many words in this misfire and a surprising lack of Style. 1969, at the height of very diverse opinions about the Vietnam War and Patriotism that did drive Families apart, would seem to be a fertile field for Thornton to let loose and express. But nothing here seems all that insightful or profound, more like a rambling, soft spoken rant on something about War, Family, Drugs, and Sex.It is not a bad Movie but falls very short from being anything more than a great many great Actors given a load of lethargic points to make and for the most part it all just seems sort of Ho Hum. Not the sort of thing that these deep and touching themes deserve.Jayne Mansfield's car does make a Cameo.