Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

 
Have you hear of a man named John Hughes? He is basically responsible for almost every great movie of the 1980s. Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles are just a few of his masterpieces. Hughes made many great teenage films through his career, but my favorite of his is the buddy travel comedy Planes, Trains & Automobiles. Everything about this movie works and works better then in any comedy I have ever seen. Planes, Trains & Automobiles is Hughes' best film and a Thanksgiving tradition. The story is now a cliché, but only because of this movie. Neil Page, a white collar yuppie, must struggle to travel home for Thanksgiving with Del Griffith, an obnoxious slob of a shower ring salesman his only companion. The idea of this story has so many possibilities, which is why it has been so often imitated. The most recent example I can think of is Due Date, which basically proves that the idea doesn't work well outside of Planes, Trains & Automobiles. There are so many good things in this movie that it would take forever to write down every one. Steve Martin and John Candy have great chemistry. You could actually believe that they were not acting and were actually people who just met for the first time and don't really enjoy each others company. The movie is also very heartfelt. You could almost call Planes, Trains & Automobiles a dramady for how many struggles there are. Throughout the movie there is something happening to Del's wife and the pay off is very good that even you can't help but be moved by a movie where Steve Martin washes his face with John Candy's underwear. But the number one thing about Planes, Trains & Automobiles that makes it one of my favorite films of all time is the comedy. Planes, Trains & Automobiles has to be the funniest movie I have ever seen, followed by Anchorman, Hangover, and Caddyshack. Every few seconds another joke pops up that just brings me to tears. The airplane scene, the hotel room scene, the car rental scene, the wrong way up the freeway scene, almost every joke in this movie make me laugh every time I watch it. I cannot imagine a movie even close to being as funny as this one. Though being the film critic I am, I am forced to nitpick to find a problem with this movie. There is only one thing that kind of irked me. Three or four times the movie cuts to Neil's wife alone in bed, waiting for him. Once or twice it is nice to watch, but as it goes on it tend to make you roll your eyes. Other then that, I cannot think of a single thing wrong. Planes, Trains & Automobiles is one of my favorite movies of the 1980s, only behind Back to the Future and Raiders of the Lost Ark. The movie plays to almost every emotion you have that you love to watch it to see what happens to these characters. The movie is a Thanksgiving tradition around my house and I hope it becomes one of yours. Planes, Trains & Automobiles is not only my favorite comedy, but also my eighteen favorite movie of all time 10/10