It may have the name of one of the most beautiful and famous actresses of the 1950s, but Jayne Mansfield's Car is not a movie about glamour or Hollywood; it is a movie about war. OK, technically it's a movie about the clash between a Southern family and a British one when the woman who united them dies, but the new film directed by and starring Billy Bob Thornton has war lurking everywhere in it. Thornton's character and his two brothers (played by Kevin Bacon and Robert Patrick) are World War II veterans, their father (played by Robert Duvall) fought in World War I, and the film is set in 1969, as thousands of young men are being sent off to yet another war in Vietnam.
You'd better believe that sounds like a stacked cast, and in this exclusive, brand-new poster for the film, you can see just how deep the talent runs. The British family is played by John Hurt, Ray Stevenson and Frances O'Connor! Kevin Bacon is playing a hippie! Even if you've never heard of Jayne Mansfield, that's a cast that can get anyone's attention. And hey, aren't you dying to figure out how Jayne Mansfield's car figures into the story at all? To find out you'll have to buy a ticket-- or hit the "rent" button on your remote.
After premiering at the Berlin and Toronto International Film Festivals, Jayne Mansfield's Car-- the first film Thornton has directed since 2001's Daddy and Them-- is coming to theaters on September 13, and will be available on-demand starting August 20. For more on the film, you can check out the official synopsis below:
In what critics are calling his best work as writer/director since SLINGBLADE, Academy Awardâ winner Billy Bob Thornton stars – along with Oscarâ winner Robert Duvall, two-time Oscarâ nominee John Hurt and Golden Globe winnerKevin Bacon – in this story of fathers and sons, wars and peace, and the turbulent time that changed America forever. It’s 1969 in a small Alabama town, and the death of a quirky clan’s long-estranged wife and mother brings together two very different families for the funeral. But do the scars of the past hide differences that will tear them apart or expose truths that could lead to the most unexpected collisions of all? Robert Patrick (WALK THE LINE), Ray Stevenson (“Dexter”),Katherine LaNasa (“Deception”) and Frances O’Connor (THE HUNTER) co-star in the acclaimed comedy/drama thatTwitchFilm calls “A perfect film for a lazy summer day with near-perfect performances across the board!”
