There are plenty of Christmas movies to choose from, plenty of horror movies for Halloween, and now we even have a movie for Valentine’s Day called… Valentine’s Day.
But the holiday movie that is often overlooked, and never bettered, is Planes, Trains & Automobiles, the quintessential movie for Thanksgiving.
The great comedian and entertainer Steve Martin plays Neal Page, a businessman wrapping up a meeting in New York City who’s desperately trying to get home to his wife and kids in Chicago in time for Thanksgiving weekend.
His flight is cancelled, and he is paired with Del Griffith (John Candy in his most endearing role), a shower curtain ring travelling salesman and self-described “blabbermouth” and “chowderhead,” on another flight to Wichita.
There then starts a series of transportation errors and hi jinx that partners the two funny-men in a quest to just make it home.
The film was written and directed by the late John Hughes, a true cinema auteur who carefully crafted some of the best films of the 80s before dropping out of the public eye.
Hughes’ mastery of storytelling with real human emotion was unparalleled in 80s cinema, bringing us some of the era’s best in The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. His way of telling stories through the eyes of the young and misunderstood resonated with audiences everywhere.
In Planes, Trains & Automobiles, he directed his first grown-up story with the same touch of empathy that made him so unique in movies. It also helps when you work with two of the funniest individuals to ever grace the screen.
Ask any young comedian in movies or television now about their comedic inspiration, and they’ll point to Steve Martin first and foremost.
Martin played music, toured, sang songs, wrote books, performed stand-up, acted in films and television shows, and made an entire generation laugh in a way that they hadn’t before.
His comedy was intelligent, almost to the level of savant (his book Cruel Shoes), but he wasn’t afraid to dumb himself down for wide-audience laughs (The Jerk).
He looked like a regular guy — like your next door neighbour — but he moved his body as if his joints were made of jelly.
His career has spanned over 30 years and he’s played a range of characters, from humorous (Father of the Bride) to serious (Grand Canyon) to outrageous and sarcastic (Bowfinger). And his hosting of the Oscars in recent years has made the night that much more magical and funny.
His road buddy in the film is the wonderful John Candy, quite possibly the warmest screen presence ever.
Candy was one of those actors and comedians who you just wanted to give a big hug to. He seemed to have not even a shred of pretentiousness or arrogance about him. He seemed like a nice guy, who just happened to say and do some of the funniest things in movies.
I’ve never met a person who has said about John Candy: “Oh, I can’t stand him.” Everyone likes John Candy. How can’t you? He’s a big bear with a huge heart that made us laugh.
He delivers some of the funniest lines of the movie, and he plays the sequences with Martin so perfectly, so balanced, so incredibly hilarious that you’d think the pair were a comic duo for years.
One of the standout comedic scenes in the film is when Martin and Candy wake up in the same bed together, with Candy kissing Martin’s ear, thinking it’s his wife.
Another classic scene is the rental car agent’s conversation with an angry Steve Martin, probably the funniest moment of the film and some of the best movie dialogue ever.
“You’re going the wrong way!” If you’ve seen the movie, you know this scene. If not, when you do see the picture, you’ll never forget this sequence after.
“Every Time You Go Away” is a song written by Daryl Hall (of the super-duo from the late-70s and 80s, Hall & Oates) that plays over the last scene of the movie.
It’s the essence of this amazingly endearing picture, a movie about love, loss, friendship and family.
This Thanksgiving, gather your family and put this on, and laugh and cry and thank your family for being there with you.
It’s one of the most heart-warming and heart-breaking scenes in film history, and the last image we see of this picture is a freeze-frame of John Candy’s smiling face.
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