Happy Thanksgiving! What Thanksgiving is complete Planes, Trains and Automobiles?
Rotten Tomatoes lists it at #3 for their all-time Thanksgiving Movies, but I for one would list it at #1. It’s got a 92% Critic Score and 87% Audience Score on the RT. Planes, Trains and Automobiles is not just a good Thanksgiving movie, it’s a great movie to watch anytime.
John Hughes ruled the 80s as a writer, producer, and director. He wrote, produced, and directed Planes, Trains and Automobiles, The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and Uncle Buck among others. His writing credits include over 50 films, including National Lampoon’s Vacation, Home Alone, the 1994 Miracle on 34th Street, and The Great Outdoors. When people think 80s, John Hughes is sure to follow. His balance of emotions is impressive. The fact that he can bring emotions from hilarity to sadness, from the dumps to crowd favorite, and can swing the roles of protagonist and supporting character back and forth with ease.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles is the Thanksgiving Movie you need to watch! So snuggle up for a short gif-filled synopsis.
The story opens on Steve Martin as Neal Page, the away-from-home marketer trying to catch his 6pm flight home from Manhattan. His coworker ominously cautions, “You’ll never catch the 6!” He has a race for a rush hour cab against a foe played by none other than Kevin Bacon, and succeeds in getting his cab…sort of. When he turns to put his luggage in, he trips over a large suitcase and falls flat. The next thing he knows, his cab is speeding off, and Neal chasing after it.
He tries to get back in, but to no avail. At the airport he runs into the cab-thief who is none other than Del Griffith, played by the hilarious and emotive John Candy. I for one will say it is Candy’s best role on screen.
Hiccup after hiccup, plans foiled, mishaps run amok, and the two unlikely travel partners have to learn to deal with the worst luck a holiday season could offer. It’s a bit like the Biblical story of Job, mixed with some of Homer’s Odyssey, and a heaping helping of laughs and heartfelt moments.
They brave inhospitable hotels, the bitter cold, Greyhound buses, and enough situations to bring back road trip PTSD for any and everyone who’s hit the open road with a friend. The best part of the dynamic is the fact that these two were strangers before their adventure. This adds to the tension and provides secrets and clues to piece together to understand their stories.
This movie is for anyone and everyone. If you have roommates, you’ll understand Planes, Trains and Automobiles. If you have siblings, you’ll laugh at the similarities. Even if you haven’t been on a road trip in years, you’ll still be laughing at the jabs, jaunts, and fun.
If I say much more, I’ll have said too much. This Thanksgiving could continue a tradition or start a new one. Add Planes, Trains and Automobiles to your tradition rotation this year!
*Disclaimer for those expecting perfection:
Half the fun of a movie is catching the cheesy parts, the “that better not go even further…”, and the hilarity of characters so believable it hurts. If you’re telling me you watch Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story, The Grinch (in all of its three retellings), or any other holiday film, then you gotta call a spade a spade.
Sometimes, we have to suspend disbelief and suspend harsh judgments. Laugh, cry, invite someone to your Thanksgiving table this year.
Check out where to watch it here!
Just be sure they are pillows…