Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that Jayne Mansfield's Car is a 1969-set drama about war veterans that will likely only appeal to adults. It has some very strong material but could inspire interesting discussions about the effects that war has on people. Some car crashes are shown, with bloody wounds, and a gun is shown and fired. A character is shown with burn scars all over his torso. There's some female toplessness and sex scenes, including illicit sex outside of marriage. Language is strong, with uses of "f--k," "s--t," "p---y," and more. Characters smoke many cigarettes and are often seen drinking until drunk. Some characters smoke pot, including two teens. A teen boy takes LSD and spikes a drink with the drug.
Sexual
Content
Three women appear topless. One of the main characters masturbates in front of a topless woman (nothing below the waist is shown). A man sleeps with a married woman. Some passionate kissing and strong sex talk throughout, including talk of prostitutes and "robbing the cradle."
Violence
The family patriarch loves to visit crash scenes. Viewers see a couple of mangled cars, a dead body with a bloody head wound, and a live victim with a gory broken leg (blood and bone are visible). Characters also visit Jayne Mansfield's death car and talk about her accident. Two characters go hunting, and one threatens another with a gun. A character is shown with burn scars all over his torso, and he describes his war experiences. Characters also generally argue and fight with one another (including punching). In one shot, it appears as if a character has pinned war medals to his naked chest.
Language
Language is very strong, albeit not constant. Words include "f--k" and "s--t" (in various permutations), "hell," "a--hole," "queer," "bastard," "goddamn," "whore," "p---y," "ass," "damn," "bitch," and "t-ts."
Social
Behavior
The movie has a complex set of messages about war. Several characters have come home from war, having survived accidents, capture, and battles -- or having seen no action at all. Each experience has left a man lost, sad, unfulfilled, or damaged in some way.
Consumerism
Not applicable
Drugs / Tobacco /
Alcohol
Two teens are shown smoking pot and then talking about taking LSD. One teen actually takes LSD and then drops some in a tea pitcher for others to take, unknowingly. Characters smoke cigarettes frequently, and drink alcohol (mostly beer, but also hard liquor in some scenes). Characters often get very drunk. Some adult characters smoke pot. One adult character hosts a drug party with pot and mescaline.