Review of Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) by Andrew M — 19 Sep 2016

Planes, Trains and Automobiles is a familiar tale: a road movie and the hijinks that ensue between two polar opposite personalities. What makes this particular film stand out among the others is what writer/director John Hughes brings to the table. Like with all of his preceding films, those being coming-of-age stories of young adults, Hughes brings a kind of brutal honesty to these characters and their interactions that really leaves a lasting impact. This is first and foremost a comedy, and there's absolutely a lot of laughs and a lot of fun to be had, but Hughes isn't afraid to pack in some emotional outbursts that feel natural for the situation each character is in without feeling melodramatic. When a character is at wit's end, Hughes slows down the comedy to ground the scene in a realistic manner.

Of course, it also helps that the two leads characters, the cynical and selfish Neal Page (Steve Martin) and the optimistic and extroverted Del Griffith (John Candy), are acted with such charm and share delightful chemistry. Martin brings his familiar sense of offbeat absurdist humor to his role, and also is home to many of the aforementioned scenes of emotion as his character faces obstacle after obstacle. Alongside him, Candy is as warm and charming of a presence as ever; he too has his fair share of emotional moments, and the primarily comedic actor absolutely nails them. One doesn't work without the other though: the film is at its finest when the two actors get to banter and crack jokes off one another.

Hughes makes the jump from teen comedy to a new kind of film perfectly, while still keeping the same kind of earnest storytelling of his past works. The trifecta of Hughes, Martin, and Candy make Planes, Trains and Automobiles a comedy classic, and required viewing for fans of any of the three.