PLANES, TRAINS, & AUTOMOBILES (THE PERFECT THANKSGIVING MOVIE)

Maybe they should have tried walking

Two legendary comedic actors team up to make one of the all time greatest holiday classic movies of all time!



The second (and absolute BEST) of two of the most awesome Thanksgiving movies ever made touts the comedic prowess of the ageless Steve Martin and the late great John Candy!  If you read my review of Dutch yesterday, you'll remember I mentioned that I watch these two movies every year in memory of my dearly departed father who introduced me to this greatness.  This movie is so spectacular that even when I tried watching only certain parts of it today for this review, I ended up watching the whole thing!  This flick just glides right by in an awesome way.

Neal Page (played by the great Steve Martin) is a white collar stiff who works in marketing and is in his final meeting anxiously waiting to catch his plane going home from New York City to Chicago.  An ominous warning is given to him by his colleague that he won't make the trip home, but he tries anyway.  From this moment to the end of the movie, it's Murphy's Law (anything that can go wrong, will go wrong) for poor Neal, and his biggest curse/blessing comes in the form of Shower Curtain Ring Salesman: Del Griffith (played by absolute legend John Candy).  Neal is desperately trying to get home in time for Thanksgiving with his family while it seems that Del, while very lovable, is unwittingly trying to hold him back with his constant blabbering and smothering.

I still wet myself laughing at this scene to this day!

If this plot sounds vaguely familiar to those who never saw this 1987 film, well it's most likely because you saw the unintentional (or was it intentional?  you never know with Hollywood) remake of it starring Robert Downey Jr and Zach Galifianakis: Due Date.  Only in this film Downey is rushing to get home for the birth of his child; but fact still remains that's a rich stiff getting mixed up with a goofy fat imbecilic fat man.  Unfortunately, while this movie really is VERY funny, for those who were already fans of Planes, Trains, & Automobiles, this movie came up short.

"You, sir, are no John Candy....but you're still funny"

There are too many epic moments in this Planes, Trains, & Automobiles to convince you of how funny and classic it is, but I shall warn you of this my dears: this movie is not about the slapstick comedy, although it has plenty of that...the REAL comedy comes from the subtleties, one-liners and dialogue involved, and the stars pull it off flawlessly!

Steve Martin plays the extremely frustrated and uptight businessman perfectly.  Here is a scene where he's had enough and takes it out on a poor woman who gives it right back to him.  This is probably my favorite comedy movie scene EVER (parental discretion is advised as there's a LOT of umm...French in this scene):

Also, look for a very brief cameo by another ageless actor...while his cameo is brief, it's awesome!

YES!  You know a movie is a classic when the Baconator is in it!

Bottom line, this movie is a classic for a reason.  You've got two classic comic actors, a classic story of two guys trying to get home, and a classic tale of triumph for the holiday season.  What makes this movie so great and convincing is that it was in the 80's before cell phones, so you really felt the despair.  This movie will make you laugh, it'll bring a tear to your eye, it'll warm your heart, then it'll make you laugh again.  The music is great in it, the acting is flawless, the story is impeccable, it all just comes together.  I would say it's a family movie, but there are a bunch of scenes with colorful language as you've witnessed above (although it's still relatively tame by today's standards).

My rating:

So, there aren't many movies that get this rating because, well, it's hard to have a movie that has everything.  This is one of the few movies (yes, there's more than one) that I know by heart because I've seen it so many times and it makes me laugh every single time I see it or think about it.  Even my wife asked me today how I can still laugh at this movie if I know it already and have seen it so many times...because it's AWESOME!

5.0000000 OUT OF 5 STARS!!!!!!


Please give it a chance.  You may not feel the same as I do about it because of what the movie means to me (remembering my father), but I'm positive you'll like it if you like classic comedy!

Happy Thanksgiving


Jay