Every year around Thanksgiving, I always check out the 1987 comedy ‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles.’ And, even though I have seen this comedy many, many times, it can still make me laugh!
For those not familiar with the 80s classic, easily excitable Neal Page is somewhat of a control freak. Trying to get home to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with his wife and kids, his flight is rerouted to a distant city in Kansas because of terrible weather, and his sanity begins to slight go.
Worse yet, he is forced to bunk up with a slightly talkative Del Griffith, whom he finds extremely annoying. Together they must overcome the insanity of holiday travel to reach their intended destinations.
‘Planes, Trains & Automobiles’ is a hilarious, heartfelt holiday classic that is an absolute must watch during this time of year. The unbelievable chemistry between Steve Martin and the late John Candy also helps make this movie extremely memorable.
During the movie, we get to see Neal and Del try to get to their final destinations, which usually end with really humorous results. All of their scenes together are funny and the comedic chemistry between the two actors make the scenes even better.
This comedy also delivers quite a few memorable scenes, such as the “pillows” moment in the motel, the sequence where we see them driving down the freeway and eventually the car ends up going in flames (which they STILL drive after) and the car rental scene. The car rental scene is probably the most memorable scene of this entire movie and Steve Martin’s outburst will still crack you up! I’m pretty sure this scene alone gave this 1987 comedy its R rating since Steve Martin’s character says a certain word a total of 19 times during his little hilarious rant.
In between all of the hilarious scenes, this 1987 classic can also be heart-felt. Some of John Candy’s scenes can be a little emotional, especially at the movie’s end. I won’t spoil why it’s emotional, but if you have seen the movie, you already know!
After watching this movie again, it made me wish that Steve Martin and John Candy would’ve collaborated on more projects together. Their performances are great and their scenes together are comedy gold. During a lot of their scenes together it made you feel for the characters!
Trivia: Steve Martin was convinced to join the production after favoring two scenes he had read from the script: the seat adjustment scene in the car, and the “F” bomb tirade at the car rental desk. Hughes originally wanted Tom Hanks for the role of Neal Page and John Travolta for the role of Del Griffith. Hanks was unavailable since he was busy shooting ‘Big’ (another 80s classic) and the studio didn’t want Travolta in the movie because he was considered “box office poison” at the time.
Where to find the movie? You can either rent this 80s holiday classic through several PVOD services or on Paramount Plus.
John Hughes, in an interview on the "Those Aren't Pillows" DVD, said he was inspired to write the film's story after an actual flight he was on from New York to Chicago. The flight was diverted to Wichita, Kansas, taking him five days to get home.
John Candy and Steve Martin's favorite film of their own.
Steve Martin was convinced to join the production after favoring two scenes he had read from the script: the seat adjustment-scene in the car, and the F-word tirade at the car rental desk.
Director John Hughes was known for staging improvisational moments for his actors in order to capture a genuine reaction. Since he was not satisfied with the Owen scene introductions after several takes, he privately instructed Dylan Baker (Owen) to wipe spit in his right hand just before shaking hands with Neil Page. Steve Martin was not expecting this, thus his disgusted reaction to shaking Baker's saliva slathered hand. The film crew reportedly exploded in laughter as Martin ran off to wash his hands immediately following the encounter. Hughes got the reaction he needed and the footage was kept in the film.
John Hughes wrote the first draft of the script in three days. His average writing time for a script in those days was about three to five days with twenty-some re-writes.
One of the very few John Hughes films where none of the main characters are teenagers.
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