A man must struggle to travel home for Thanksgiving with an obnoxious slob of a shower curtain ring salesman as his only companion.
Paramount Pictures will release “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” on a Limited Edition Blu-ray SteelBook® on November 23rd, showcasing the comedic talents of Steve Martin and the late John Candy. I still remember seeing this in theaters back in Dublin in 1987 and at the time, the thought of watching these two funny giants together on the big screen was exciting. To be perfectly honest though, I can’t remember the last time I watched it, it must be close to twenty years now so watching it again for its 30th Anniversary was perfect timing.
The story begins in New York City as Neal Page (Steve Martin) gets out of a business meeting late in the afternoon, two days before Thanksgiving, and decides that he is going to make it back home to Chicago before the holiday rush. Along the way, he meets and teams up with Del Griffith (John Candy), a traveling salesman who sells plastic curtain rings, and together, they share a bellyful of laughs as their preferred method of transportation, starting out with planes, then switching to trains, and ultimately, automobiles, manage to break down or somehow prevent them from getting back home to Chicago and thus, they have to continuously switch from one traveling arrangement to another.
At the time, Steve Martin was not a favorite comic of mine although I have to admit, he was hilarious in “The Jerk.” John Candy, however, was comedic gold. Having already appeared in Mel Brooks’ Star Wars parody, “Spaceballs,” the man was never afraid to poke fun at himself. My personal favorite film of his would come two years later in the form of “Who’s Harry Crumb?” where he plays a bumbling detective who wears various disguises to conceal his true identity. “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” was also a departure for writer/director John Hughes, who up to this point, had made a name for himself as the creator of comedies that focused solely on kids, particularly teenagers, starting out with “Sixteen Candles,” “The Breakfast Club,” “Weird Science,” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” I think a lot of people, including myself, were very apprehensive about his transition into adult humor but his drollness and witticism carried over perfectly.
In watching the film again for the first time in years, I was surprised at how mature it really was. As a teenager watching it for the first time, everything was hilarious but put thirty years on me and move me to America and I can relate to a lot of what Steve Martin’s straight-laced Neal Page goes through in order to be with his family in time for Thanksgiving. Since moving to the U.S. in 1994, Thanksgiving has become my second-favorite holiday, after Christmas, and John Hughes captures its very essence unequivocally. The atmosphere that surrounds our two protagonists is distinctly festive and although the situations they constantly find themselves in are far from it, these very predicaments will help shape both men into becoming better human beings.
The old saying that film is forever, is so true, especially when watching someone who is no longer with us. I remember many years ago when John Candy was still alive, he mentioned something in an interview about his doctor informing him that he would need to lose weight and he said that he wouldn’t, for the simple reason that his fans liked him as he was, big. That is so sad, especially taking into consideration that only a few years later, he would pass away from weight-related health issues. Like so many other heavyset comedians who would pass away because of their weight, Benny Hill, Oliver Hardy, Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle, John Belushi, and Chris Farley, I think I would much rather have them around today much thinner than gone way too early. While “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” is touted as a comedy, it is more than just that. It is cleverly disguised as a morality tale, where two men, from divergent backgrounds, meet, and in spite of their disparate cultivations, and the fact that they have absolutely nothing in common, become the best of friends. You don’t see many movies like that any more.
Available in a Limited Edition Blu-ray™ SteelBook November 23rd
