Jayne Mansfield's Car

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Billy Bob Thornton handles multi-hyphenate duties once again with Jayne Mansfield’s Car, a tale set in Alabama in 1969, detailing the impact of the death of an estranged matriarch on the two very different sides of her family. As co-writer (with Tom Epperson), director and co-star, Thornton has corralled the support of an all-star cast featuring Tippi Hedren, Kevin Bacon, John Hurt, Frances O’Connor and Robert Duvall for what looks like a solid slice of Southern Gothic drama that one can only hope embraces the down home aesthetic that made Sling Blade such a dangerously incisive piece of work. Opens Sept. 20 at Kenwood Theatre. (R) Not screened in time for review