Planes, Trains and Automobiles
1987 · Directed by John Hughes
Original language: English
- comedy
The story
An irritable marketing executive, Neal Page, is heading home to Chicago for Thanksgiving when a number of delays force him to travel with a well meaning but overbearing shower curtain ring salesman, Del Griffith.
What it’s like
Warm, rain-streaked and sun-washed by turns, this is a mid-80s comedy that lives in cramped, lived-in spaces: airport concourses under flat fluorescent light, dim motel rooms with sagging beds, the grey-brown sprawl of the Midwest in late November. The camera stays mostly unshowy, with plenty of medium two-shots that let the two leads bounce off each other, and the score is light and wistful rather than insistent. Its vibe is good-natured and a little bittersweet, the kind of thing to put on for a holiday weekend or a lazy comfort rewatch. Pacing is brisk and episodic, each new mishap a small escalation, and the emotional arc follows an irritable, tightly wound man slowly softening toward an oblivious but big-hearted companion. There is some rough language and a few sharp, humiliating outbursts, plus a brief moment of physical danger, but no real violence or gore and nothing sexual on screen. It suits anyone wanting gentle, character-driven laughs with a warm heart, especially viewers who enjoy odd-couple road comedies and don't mind a bit of melancholy under the slapstick.
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