On My Shelf: Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
The John Hughes movie, "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" just had its 30th Anniversary -- which means I must have been somewhere around 8 years old when I first saw this movie. Although I could take it or leave it as a kid, now it might be one of my favorite films.
Plot: Neil Paige (Steve Martin), a stick-in-the-mud marketing executive, is flying from a New York meeting to get home for Thanksgiving in Chicago -- or so he thinks. From the point he fails to get a taxi in New York, his chances of getting home in time for Thanksgiving get exponentially worse -- partly due to bad weather and equipment failures, and partly due to his brand-new travelling companion, Del Griffith (John Candy) -- an extremely friendly, kind-hearted and horribly obnoxious man who attaches himself to Neil in the New York airport and seemingly can't be shaken...
This is probably going to be a short review -- because I don't have to point out any flaws in this movie. But here are some of the best things about this movie:
5. It Successfully Balances Pathos and Comedy
This movie has some serious, sad moments. And it also has moments like this, of full-on, mugging-to-the camera to over-the-top dramatic music:
...And it somehow correctly balances those moments, so that you're not like, "Well, that felt out of place!" It excellently handles the issue of tone, which is something that a lot of modern movies struggle with -- they don't know when to put the funny stuff and when to put the sad stuff, and wind up putting them so close together that it's jarring and unpleasant (I'm thinking, in particular, of the recent movie The Lone Ranger, which jumped from a scene showing an entire slaughtered Indian village to a shot of a horse wearing a hat, sitting in a tree, and somebody making a Hank-Hill-style "That horse ain't right"-type comment. Perfectly dreadful.) In this movie, the moments of goofy comedy and heart-wrenching sadness are correctly spaced out. You don't jump straight from "Steve Martin discovers he's drying his face on John Candy's used undies!" to "I'm broken-hearted because I've lost a friend" -- there are good breaks in between the two that give you time to adjust to what's going on.
4. It Captures the Feeling of Travelling, of the Season and the Place
I think one of the things I personally enjoy about this movie now, as an adult, is that a) it really captures the feeling of this time of year, and of travelling, and b) I feel like I know the locations in this movie, because I do; every part of it (with the exception of New York, which is the one location in the film I've never actually visited). Not only that, the locations look the way they did when I was a child, which makes it all the more magical.
Watching this movie is like visiting the period that I grew up in -- all the primitive, technology-free ruralness of growing up in the midwestern United States in the late 1980's -- and, in it, the bitterly cold, gray winters that seem to stretch on forever. (Now that I've written that, it doesn't sound very appealing -- but believe me, I love cold, gray winters. It feels just like home.)
3. It's the Best Thanksgiving Movie
...Although that's not a whole lot of a credit to it, because, seriously, what competition does it have for that title? I can think of just one other movie that features a "Thanksgiving" theme as strongly -- and that would be Thankskilling. (Don't watch that movie. No. Seriously. DON'T WATCH IT. It is not "good-bad" -- it is vile. Nothing fails harder than a failed comedy -- except maybe a comedy that self-consciously attempts to be kitschy and bad, and fails at that as well.)
Here's a picture of wrestler Bret Hart putting the "sharpshooter"
finishing move on Jerry "The King" Lawler (because I can't stand for
you to look at an image from the movie Thankskilling. I'm even
sad that I brought it up and somebody might, therefore, watch
it as a consequence. Look, just forget I even mentioned it. See the
expression on The King's face? That's how that movie makes decent
people, of normal intelligence, feel.) 2. Steve Martin
Typically, if you told me you were going to cast wild-and-crazy Steve Martin as the straight man in your comedy movie, I would make one of those faces.
Okay, maybe not quite this face -- a little more perplexed and a bit less sinister.
(Seriously, Martin Short - what the heck was going on here?
Somebody tell you "dancing with knees-protruding" is not allowed?)But Steve Martin is astonishingly good as a straight man in this movie. Maybe it's because he's not a straight man in its purest sense -- he has plenty of funny stuff to do on his own, once his character gets pushed to his breaking point. But making him a "stiff, stick-in-the-mud" type character makes the moments when he goes crazy all the more hilarious; it hones, and gives structure and quality to the moments when he's out of control. Also, Steve Martin does a lot of good straight-up acting in this movie -- moments where his facial expression has to explain things about the situation and the characters that aren't outright being told to you.
Some people would debate the point with me, but I'm going to say that this is one of his best movie performances.
1. John Candy
If John Candy had a fault, it's that when he wasn't into a role, or wasn't excited about a project, you could really tell. He just couldn't hide it when he was not enjoying his job. His performance is flat and lifeless, and there's no smile in his eyes. He looks bored and unhappy.
TOTALLY UNRELATED picture of John Candy
in the Dan Aykroyd career-killer, Nothing But Trouble.In this movie, on the other hand, features a glowing, delightful, charming John Candy -- who is loveable and fun even when his character is being his most goofy and obnoxious.
He even handles the moments of pathos well.
This is the role John Candy was born to play; it's the perfect essence of all his other best performances. In fact, I'd argue that Del Griffith is John Candy's single best movie performance. Yes, better than Uncle Buck. Uncle Buck, fun a character as he was, was a two-dimensional cut-out compared to Del Griffith.
Ultimately...
There's just one other thing I'd like to comment on -- which is HOW HEINOUSLY OFFENSIVE I FIND THE COVER TO THE NEW RELEASE OF THIS MOVIE:
THIS IS NOT A CHRISTMAS MOVIE. There are no candy-cane signposts in this movie, nor Christmas presents falling out of suitcases, nor Rankin-Bass snowflake landscapes. I HAVE NO IDEA WHY SOME MISGUIDED PHOTOSHOP ARTIST WOULD TRY TO MAKE THIS LOOK LIKE A CHRISTMAS MOVIE. THERE ARE SO FEW THANKSGIVING MOVIES, WHY WOULD YOU TRY AND ROB US OF THE ONLY ONE WORTH WATCHING?! Somebody clearly went, "Hmm, Christmas movies always sell good," and that was the extent of the thought that went into it. This cover is an offense to human intelligence (not unlike the movie Thankskilling.)
But, I digress.
So, anyway, in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, we've got good writing, good setting, good directing, great acting -- and it all adds up to great fun. Obviously, this movie is recommended, bigtime. It's a good comedy, and a good straight-up movie. If you haven't seen it, I seriously recommend that you watch it!
TOP-10! RECOMMENDED!
Plot: Neil Paige (Steve Martin), a stick-in-the-mud marketing executive, is flying from a New York meeting to get home for Thanksgiving in Chicago -- or so he thinks. From the point he fails to get a taxi in New York, his chances of getting home in time for Thanksgiving get exponentially worse -- partly due to bad weather and equipment failures, and partly due to his brand-new travelling companion, Del Griffith (John Candy) -- an extremely friendly, kind-hearted and horribly obnoxious man who attaches himself to Neil in the New York airport and seemingly can't be shaken...
This is probably going to be a short review -- because I don't have to point out any flaws in this movie. But here are some of the best things about this movie:
5. It Successfully Balances Pathos and Comedy
This movie has some serious, sad moments. And it also has moments like this, of full-on, mugging-to-the camera to over-the-top dramatic music:
...And it somehow correctly balances those moments, so that you're not like, "Well, that felt out of place!" It excellently handles the issue of tone, which is something that a lot of modern movies struggle with -- they don't know when to put the funny stuff and when to put the sad stuff, and wind up putting them so close together that it's jarring and unpleasant (I'm thinking, in particular, of the recent movie The Lone Ranger, which jumped from a scene showing an entire slaughtered Indian village to a shot of a horse wearing a hat, sitting in a tree, and somebody making a Hank-Hill-style "That horse ain't right"-type comment. Perfectly dreadful.) In this movie, the moments of goofy comedy and heart-wrenching sadness are correctly spaced out. You don't jump straight from "Steve Martin discovers he's drying his face on John Candy's used undies!" to "I'm broken-hearted because I've lost a friend" -- there are good breaks in between the two that give you time to adjust to what's going on.
4. It Captures the Feeling of Travelling, of the Season and the Place
I think one of the things I personally enjoy about this movie now, as an adult, is that a) it really captures the feeling of this time of year, and of travelling, and b) I feel like I know the locations in this movie, because I do; every part of it (with the exception of New York, which is the one location in the film I've never actually visited). Not only that, the locations look the way they did when I was a child, which makes it all the more magical.
Watching this movie is like visiting the period that I grew up in -- all the primitive, technology-free ruralness of growing up in the midwestern United States in the late 1980's -- and, in it, the bitterly cold, gray winters that seem to stretch on forever. (Now that I've written that, it doesn't sound very appealing -- but believe me, I love cold, gray winters. It feels just like home.)3. It's the Best Thanksgiving Movie
...Although that's not a whole lot of a credit to it, because, seriously, what competition does it have for that title? I can think of just one other movie that features a "Thanksgiving" theme as strongly -- and that would be Thankskilling. (Don't watch that movie. No. Seriously. DON'T WATCH IT. It is not "good-bad" -- it is vile. Nothing fails harder than a failed comedy -- except maybe a comedy that self-consciously attempts to be kitschy and bad, and fails at that as well.)
Here's a picture of wrestler Bret Hart putting the "sharpshooter"finishing move on Jerry "The King" Lawler (because I can't stand for
you to look at an image from the movie Thankskilling. I'm even
sad that I brought it up and somebody might, therefore, watch
it as a consequence. Look, just forget I even mentioned it. See the
expression on The King's face? That's how that movie makes decent
people, of normal intelligence, feel.) 2. Steve Martin
Typically, if you told me you were going to cast wild-and-crazy Steve Martin as the straight man in your comedy movie, I would make one of those faces.
Okay, maybe not quite this face -- a little more perplexed and a bit less sinister.(Seriously, Martin Short - what the heck was going on here?
Somebody tell you "dancing with knees-protruding" is not allowed?)But Steve Martin is astonishingly good as a straight man in this movie. Maybe it's because he's not a straight man in its purest sense -- he has plenty of funny stuff to do on his own, once his character gets pushed to his breaking point. But making him a "stiff, stick-in-the-mud" type character makes the moments when he goes crazy all the more hilarious; it hones, and gives structure and quality to the moments when he's out of control. Also, Steve Martin does a lot of good straight-up acting in this movie -- moments where his facial expression has to explain things about the situation and the characters that aren't outright being told to you.
Some people would debate the point with me, but I'm going to say that this is one of his best movie performances.
1. John Candy
If John Candy had a fault, it's that when he wasn't into a role, or wasn't excited about a project, you could really tell. He just couldn't hide it when he was not enjoying his job. His performance is flat and lifeless, and there's no smile in his eyes. He looks bored and unhappy.
TOTALLY UNRELATED picture of John Candyin the Dan Aykroyd career-killer, Nothing But Trouble.In this movie, on the other hand, features a glowing, delightful, charming John Candy -- who is loveable and fun even when his character is being his most goofy and obnoxious.
He even handles the moments of pathos well.
This is the role John Candy was born to play; it's the perfect essence of all his other best performances. In fact, I'd argue that Del Griffith is John Candy's single best movie performance. Yes, better than Uncle Buck. Uncle Buck, fun a character as he was, was a two-dimensional cut-out compared to Del Griffith.
Ultimately...
There's just one other thing I'd like to comment on -- which is HOW HEINOUSLY OFFENSIVE I FIND THE COVER TO THE NEW RELEASE OF THIS MOVIE:
THIS IS NOT A CHRISTMAS MOVIE. There are no candy-cane signposts in this movie, nor Christmas presents falling out of suitcases, nor Rankin-Bass snowflake landscapes. I HAVE NO IDEA WHY SOME MISGUIDED PHOTOSHOP ARTIST WOULD TRY TO MAKE THIS LOOK LIKE A CHRISTMAS MOVIE. THERE ARE SO FEW THANKSGIVING MOVIES, WHY WOULD YOU TRY AND ROB US OF THE ONLY ONE WORTH WATCHING?! Somebody clearly went, "Hmm, Christmas movies always sell good," and that was the extent of the thought that went into it. This cover is an offense to human intelligence (not unlike the movie Thankskilling.)But, I digress.
So, anyway, in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, we've got good writing, good setting, good directing, great acting -- and it all adds up to great fun. Obviously, this movie is recommended, bigtime. It's a good comedy, and a good straight-up movie. If you haven't seen it, I seriously recommend that you watch it!
TOP-10! RECOMMENDED!
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