Review of Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) by Anthony M — 07 May 2010

Planes, Trains and Automobiles is a comedy film starring John Candy and Steve Martin. I was expecting a lot from this film from the high RT rating and user reviews. However, this film did feel slightly dated.

Neal Page (Martin) is trying to get home for thanks-giving. He has his flights booked and expects this to be somewhat of a normal venture however, as soon as he leaves his office everything goes down hill. When he finally arrives at the Airport he meets Del Griffith, a man who had just stole his taxi and was now getting on the same flight as him. Page is a high earning advertising sales man with little paitence. Griffith is a caring, humble man but is overly talkative and slightly accident prone. What could possibly go wrong?

As I said at the start, I did feel this film was very outdated. It does feel like its an 80's film and humour has changed dramatically since then. The humour is still funny don't get me wrong but I suspect it has definitely lost some of its charm as I'm a completely different generation. I feel it isn't up the scratch of recent comedies to place it in high standing and felt it really wasn't my style of humour.

The performances from both leads were outstanding though. Steve Martin and John Candy have some amazing chemisty and its understandable why they were so popular. They simply bounce off each other and it really is fun to watch.

The script is based on a very simple premise but I love what John Hughes has created, turning a normal trip home into a journey that will change both men forever and I found the twist at the end extremely touching and moving and thats why this film hasn't gained a low rating from me.

In conclusion, I think Planes, Trains and Automobiles hasn't aged very well and doesn't really hold my attention or give me enough laughs to warrant it a comedy classic. And unfortunately, no amount of chemistry or a great screenplay can save a comedy without the humour.