by Michael Lyons
In 2000, the late, great film critic Roger Ebert revisited the film Planes, Trains and Automobiles and wrote:
“Some movies are obviously great. Others thrust their greatness upon us. When Planes, Trains and Automobiles was released in 1987, I enjoyed it immensely, gave it a favorable review and moved on. But, the movie continued to live in my memory. Like certain other popular entertainments (It’s a Wonderful Life, ET: The Extra Terrestrial, Casablanca). It not only contained a universal theme, but matched it with the right actors and story, so that it shrugged off the other movies of its kind and stood above them in a kind of perfection. This is the only movie our family watches as a custom, mostly at Thanksgiving.”
This sentiment perfectly captures why Planes, Trains and Automobiles has endured, holiday season after holiday season. This month, the movie will celebrate its 30th anniversary (the occasion has been marked with a beautiful Blu-Ray). For three decades, John Hughes’ “road comedy” has become much more than that. It has become a Thanksgiving tradition; a reflection of a “time gone by,” with humor that still provides laughs, as well as heartfelt moments and messages that still ring true.
Taking place over the two days prior to and including Thanksgiving, Planes, Trains and Automobiles tells the tale of Marketing “Ad Man,” Neil Page (Steve Martin), who is trying to make his way back home to Chicago from a business trip in New York, to spend the holiday with his family.
A flight delay finds Neil inadvertently paired with Del Griffith (the late John Candy, missed to this day), a talkative, overbearing, but kind hearted Shower Curtain Ring Salesman. The two strangers soon find themselves stuck with each other, on the long journey home (The poster tag line read: “What he really wanted was to spend Thanksgiving with his family...what he got was three days with the Turkey”).
The efforts of Neil and Del to get home via the titular forms of transportation are filled with moments so hysterical, they’ve become iconic - the “pillows” scene and Steve Martin’s R-rated rant at a rental car counter are comedy classics.
However, writer/director John Hughes (who spoke to so many ‘teens in the ‘80’s with his non-stop string of hits like Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club) brings to this the same heart, emotion and depth of character that was found in so many of these teen films.
As Neil and Del travel together, they get to know more about one another and a touching, yet heartbreaking truth, is revealed, which amidst all of the film’s laughs is the message of Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
Debuting on November 25, 1987 (Thanksgiving weekend, during which it was beaten at the box-office by Three Men and a Baby) the film also serves as a quaint “time capsule” of the late-80’s - a world that looks so much different than today. Even though it takes place during the days leading up to Thanksgiving, there is nary a Christmas decoration to be seen in the film. Try that today, when Christmas lights seem to be strung at midnight on Halloween.
Planes,Trains and Automobiles was also a rarity at the time: a holiday movie (and a Thanksgiving-themed one at that!). Conversely today, every holiday season brings with it a new holiday-centric film vying for attention and future immortality on Netflix.
Additionally, the characters in the film are truly stranded: having to to actually rely on pay phones and check in at a front desk. If Planes, Trains and Automobiles were made today, Neil would have booked his hotel and new flight from his smart phone within the first twenty minutes of the movie and the credits would roll.
Even with what many could consider “dated” aspects, the film still resonates today. Planes, Trains and Automobiles subtly comments on how in the breakneck pace of the world, we can miss those small moments, like connections with a complete, kind hearted stranger, that can not only teach us more about them, but ourselves, as well. In our current world these messages ring truer than ever.
There is tremendous heart nestled just under the belly laughs here. This is why so many, like the custom held by Roger Ebert’s family, will sit together this holiday season, 30 years later, to watch Planes, Trains and Automobiles all over again.
Sources: rogerebert.com
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