The film opens with a small anti-war demonstration in the
town of Morrison, Alabama, while the two local cops look on. Meanwhile, the
older folk are in a barber shop, discussing politics. Jim Caldwell (Robert
Duvall) says, “You ought to have to be
from here to run for office, the way I see it.” Another guy tells him, “Well, they’ve been here some forty-odd
years, though, Jim.” Jim is then upset to learn that one of his sons,
Carroll (Kevin Bacon) was the leader of the anti-war demonstration. He seems to
be leaning pretty far to the right, so the sudden shot of Jim seated by a
stream is completely welcome, for it makes us feel for him. It makes him more
human.
This family has money. They live in a mansion. Skip
(Billy Bob Thornton), one of the other sons, has a small collection of sports
cars. But they are far from being trouble-free. Skip, though fifty years old,
still lives at home. Jimbo (Robert Patrick), though married and with a son,
also still lives at home. Jim lives partially in the past, harboring an anger,
and also a morbid passion for car accidents. The family dynamic is almost
immediately apparent during an early dinner scene at the house. Jim is
interestingly quiet for the beginning of this scene, and he when he does speak,
it’s to say basically what he said in the barber shop, which now simply comes
off as rather sad instead of strong and indignant like the first time.
A phone call from England interrupts their dinner. Jim’s
ex-wife – the mother to all of his children – has died and is going to be
buried in Alabama. A death in the family is an easy way to make an audience
feel for a group of people, but it’s really when Jim says, “She deserved to be with her people, don’t
matter what she’d done to us” that you become involved and drawn in.
Sadly, the backstory of Naomi (Jim’s ex-wife) is provided
by some clunky exposition by two supporting characters in a car. But that is
one of only a very few weak moments in this film. Most of the scenes are
strong, and work to develop the characters in this character-driven film. There
is an early scene when Jim hears of a car accident over the radio and goes to
see it. There is a nice moment when the two cops see him coming and exchange a
few quick words before he arrives – “that
son of a bitch shows up at every wreck there is,” “rich folks ain’t never got anything to do.” And as Jim gets closer,
they greet him in a friendly manner. It’s a wonderful moment, showing perhaps
that Jim doesn’t get the respect he thinks he does, and from the very people
he’d expect it most. (It’s also interesting the order in which we’re given
information. We’re allowed to develop our own opinion about Jim and his
curiosity about accidents before learning that he actually was a medic in the
first World War, so could actually provide some help in these situations.)
John Hurt plays Kingsley Bedford, Naomi’s second husband,
who arrives for the funeral with his two grown children, Phillip (Ray
Stevenson) and Camilla (Frances O’Connor). There is tension at first between
the two families, who had never met before. But they then begin to get to know
each other. Billy Bob Thornton is funny when he tells Camilla: “I like the way everything you say sounds. I
wish I could speak English.” Actually, much of the film’s humor comes from
their interactions. At one point he asks her straight out, “I was just wondering, sometime could we just
slip off and you get naked and talk English and recite something, I don’t know,
and just let me beat off to you.”
The film is really about these characters and their
relationships. Often it’s the most quiet, most personal moments that are the
best. For example, the scene where Jim asks Kingsley how he met Naomi is
absolutely perfect and touching. The scene where Skip tells Camilla about the
war is another excellent, quiet, intensely personal scene.
By the way, the film’s title comes from the car that
Jayne Mansfield died in, a car that was shipped around to different towns where
people could buy tickets to look at it.
Special Feature
The DVD contains one special feature, “Jayne Mansfield’s
Car: Behind The Scenes,” which features interviews with Billy Bob Thornton,
Robert Patrick, Ray Stevenson and Kevin Bacon. Billy Bob Thornton says the film
is about how different generations view war, and it’s about “the romanticism of tragedy.” Robert
Patrick talks about how they moved quickly on this film, doing between one and
three takes. There is also some footage taken on the set.
Jayne Mansfield’s
Car was released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 10, 2013 through Anchor
Bay.
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