Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Jayne Mansfield’s Car. 2012.
When I think of John Hurt, I see King Lear’s Fool in that definitive film production. I see Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I, Caligula and even Hell Boy, all interesting films with Hurt in interesting roles. When I think of Billy Bob Thornton, I hear him saying on a late-night talk show that his first film was Chopper Chicks in Zombietown (I think that was the title of the B-movie). But from now on, Thornton’s name will be inextricably linked to Hurt’s for me, for Jayne Mansfield’s Car is a film I found insightful and emotionally engaging. The screenplay was written by Thornton and Tom Epperson, and Thornton directed the fine cast, which included Robert Duvall, Kevin Bacon, Hurt and Thornton.

Set in the 1969 conflict over the U. S. war in Vietnam and the problem of America’s conscription of young men, this is a story of the traumatic effects that war can have on generations of men in a family. Never heavy-handed, the story shows the struggle of men to connect in meaningful ways with family members when their measure of a man’s worth is war heroics. The contrast between the emotionally damaged heroes and the more healthy family member who did not go to war is striking.

This thoughtful, nuanced film is in contrast to another film also presenting, in part, the effects of war: Source Code. Released in 2011, this film has equally good acting—Jake Gyllenhaal always brings intelligence and sensitivity to his roles—but the story glorifies the trauma of a war hero. Whereas Jayne Mansfield’s Car lets the audience decide whether war service can give meaning to the lives of veterans, Source Code slaps the audience with the glory of war, service, and death.