When I said before I felt a pang of guilt admitting that Ferris Bueller's Day Off was my favorite John Hughes film, this was the other film I thought of. With two stars giving arguably the best performances of their careers, Planes, Trains and Automobiles is Hughes at his best, moving effortlessly from hysterically funny to genuinely heartwarming with ease.
Neal Page (played by Steve Martin) is an Chicago advertising executive in New York for a business trip a few days before Thanksgiving. His attempt to get home in time for the holiday is hampered at every turn by disaster. Along the way he keeps being thrown together with another traveler, Del Griffith (played by John Candy), a shower curtain ring salesman.
Neal can't seem to catch a break on this trip from hell as first his flight is delayed then diverted to Kansas due to a blizzard in Chicago. Soon, Neal and Del partner up with one quest in mind, get back to Chicago in time for Thanksgiving Dinner. They work their way from train, bus and rental car as they try in vain to get home any way possible.
The key to the film is the mix of two alternate personalities, the high strung Neal and laid back Del, and watch the two play off each other. Then you cast two dynamite actors to play the roles. This is perfectly demonstrated in a scene in the hotel room the two are forced to share when Neal snaps and rants to Del about all the things he does that annoys him. Hughes cuts from Neal to Del and you can clearly see Del is hurt. Del only wants to make new friend, but has gone too far. But, then they go a step further as Del stands up for himself to Neal before heading back to bed. Neal, feeling terrible, joins him. The film then wisely goes for a hearty laugh as the two men awake the following morning to find themselves spooning one another.
The heart of the film is with how Del and Neal are written as characters. Del is a lovable, empathetic man who only wants to help. Neal on the other hand wants to be self reliant, trying several times to separate from Del until before finally accepting that their fates are intertwined for better or worse. Neal grows a lot over the course of the film, from a high strung, immaculate and closed off individual, becoming more open and perhaps not relaxed given the high stress situations, but more willing to go with the flow. The two start off their journey as complete strangers but finish it as friends. The heart of the film is the journey of these two mismatched strangers, with both big laughs and real poignancy behind it.
There are several memorable comedic moments in the film. There's the scene when Neal unloading all his frustrations on an obnoxious rental car clerk (played by Edie McClurg), who kept him waiting in line while she explains to her family on the phone about mini marshmallows for the Ambrosia. Neal had been left in a rental car parking lot only to discover his rental car had been stolen and had to walk back to the airport across not only a freeway but also a runway and he's had enough. He unloads a spectacular verbal tirade that includes every possible use of the F-word to punctuate his anger in a scene that is the sole reason the film has an R rating. There's also a near crash between Del and Neal's car with two semi's that ends with it revealing Neal left imprints in the dash with his fingers from gripping to so tight and Del bent the steering wheel.
For me though, it's the poignant moments that ring true and stick with me the most. The aforementioned moment in the hotel room the first night which parallels nicely with the night they spend in a hotel on the last leg of their journey, sharing late night drinks and snack chips joking over their incinerated rental car and wondering if a mini bottle of tequila would pair well with Doritos ("Probably not," replies Del). Neal quips that he feels like he's at Summer camp, showing how much their friendship has grown in such a short amount of time.
Both Steve Martin and John Candy over the years stated this was their favorite film of the ones they had done and it is easy to see why. The film moves at a breezy hour and a half as the two characters deal with one calamity after another only wanting to get home. In the process, they create two characters that are easy to love. It's one of my all time favorite films of Writer/Director John Hughes and one I watch at least once a year, usually around Thanksgiving. I know I'm not the only one either.
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