Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987)

 Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987)


John Hughes, the man who changed how teen comedies were perceived in the 1980’s with films like The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink, returns with one of his best films-Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. This film proved how versatile the director is. While he previously worked in settings set in high school, he proved he could make films that touch the heart with middle-aged men. And did he ever touch the heart. The film is so full of deft and sweetness. Some people may find that Steve Martin’s character is mean-spirited, but that is not true. Steve Martin and John Candy have such natural chemistry with one another. Their characters, are thankfully, not caricatures but human beings with feelings. I believed in these characters. This movie has a lotta heart but is it ever uproariously funny. So yes, you will be moved by laughter tears and emotional tears.

As a rule with John Hughes films, he creates relatable, natural characters. Characters that you would expect to interact with in the real world. Just like he tackled the various personas of Molly Ringwald in the movies they did together, his screenplay’s depictions of characters are extremely natural. Who would not be frustrated as Martin’s character as he just wants to be home for Thanksgiving. Who could relate to Candy’s talkative personality that could annoy people despite honest intentions. The scenarios themselves make for great comedy. I died laughing where the two men wake up in that Kansas motel room cuddled with one another and tried to shake it off with fake macho personas. Or that interaction Martin had with the car rental service agent. I was in tears. This script is definitely one of his best.

Neal Page (Steve Martin) is in New York and he is ready to fly to Chicago to be with his family for Thanksgiving. He runs into bad luck when he grabs a taxi, a shower curtain salesman Del Griffith (John Candy) steals it by mistake. They meet again at the airport. Neal is kicked out of first-class and is forced to sit next to the ever-talkative Del. Due to a blizzard, O’Hare is closed, and the plane is forced to land in Wichita, Kansas. With the same destination (Chicago) in mind, the two men decide to travel together. As they take various means of transportation (buses, trains, planes, you name it!) they realize they could have more in common with each other than they originally thought.

This movie would not have been half as good if it were not for both Steve Martin and John Candy. They have amazing chemistry with one another. It also helps that the characters they play are versions of types they perform very well. Neal is uptight while Del is goofy and talkative, but still loving and endearing in his own way. When Del makes that speech about “this is who I am,” my eyes welled up a bit. The supporting cast compliments these characters very well. Michael McKean delivers a great appearance as the state trooper. Also, Kevin Bacon appears as a taxi racer.

I suppose one could not be blamed if they thought Planes, Trains, and Automobiles lacked originality. Yes, I could predict the ending from miles away. But going from Point A to Point B is what makes it special. Hughes embraced the cliches of teen movies, road trip films, and buddy movies to give us something special. Besides, there are hardly any movies for Thanksgiving. This is one of them! Also, the soundtrack! Like he always do, Hughes assembled a great soundtrack with a good combination of rock and country. In the end, this film is a winner because it is funny and heartfelt. It may not have been a major box office success, but it did eventually win people over.

My Grade: A-

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

Image
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.” Ah, wise words from our new young friend, Ferris Bueller. In John Hughes’s 1986 film, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off , all Ferris wants to do is take a day and have fun. That is the most simplistic theme the movie has. You can go deeper, but the main takeaway is that it is okay to have fun. That is a motto I have taken to heart. I really loved the film. People consider The Breakfast Club to be Hughes’s best and most important movie. That’s a fine statement to make, but I would personally rank the film number two behind this particular one. The teen characters are instantly relatable, it has a memorable antagonist for the children, and this is basically a thirty-year-old travel guide for Chicago. Just how Woody Allen creates his movies as love letters for New York, this is applicable for John Hughes. A Chicago love letter!   Like all of his films, Hughes wrote
Read more

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

Image
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) The James Bond franchise is one of those franchises that will never die. It has been going strong since the first movie rolled out in the early 1960’s, and new James Bond movies are still produced today. What makes this series unique is they use multiple actors to play the titular character over the years. They all bring their own gravitas to the role, and each Bond is a different man when compared to each other (although the martini, shaken not stirred and the beautiful women among other things remain a constant.) So my first James Bond review for this blog is 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me. This wasn’t my first look at the series, but it was my first look at the older movies. I really liked what I saw. This is an old-fashioned story that combines a spy drama and an action-packed war movie into one package. Like many of the older Bond movies, the story can get borderline preposterous. The cheesiness of the plot did come to grow on me after awhile, even
Read more

Broadcast News (1987)

Image
  Broadcast News (1987) If you watched the trailer for James L. Brooks’s Broadcast News , you would be forgiven if you thought this film is about a romantic love triangle set in a news station. Yes, there are aspects of romance, but it is way more than that. Brooks is a very smart, adept director who makes a living in creating deep, meaningful characterizations. In my eyes, Brooks had ideas about how work can overtake personal lives and any romance for these workaholics is essentially just a front because quite frankly, these people love to work…as we see detailed with our main characters. In addition, this film is quite informative. Even in 1987, news stations were more about entertainment and the looks, rather than delivering the actual news itself. It was a newer trend that eventually took over networks. With all the insanity within the newsroom, this film manages to find humanity within its characters. This is a detailed human portrait that is engaging, emotional, and comedic. Ja
Read more