And it isn’t because the writer/director has done little of note since Sling Blade. Or that he’s vainly returning to more mature filmmaking after a series of ill-judged star vehicles like Mr. Woodcock or School forScoundrels. Thornton has more pure writing talent than many Oscar-winning screenwriters, yet he lacks discipline in terms of structure. Those same talents and deficiencies are apparent in Jayne Mansfield’s Car, a flabby drama that also features a couple of phenomenal, Tennessee Williams-esque monologues.