Planes, Trains and Automobiles

At the beginning of Planes, Trains and Automobiles we met Del Griffith. Already we were introduced to two realities about him just by him reading a dirty book. One it shows us how he lonely he was and could make himself at home anywhere. We really only connected these dots upon a second viewing after learning Del was homeless and a widower.

The film fell under the golden fleece movie genre. The 3 elements of a GOLDEN FLEECE story are:

1) A road spanning oceans, time—or across the street—so long as it demarcates growth. It often includes a “Road Apple” that stops the trip cold.

2) A team or a buddy the hero needs to be guided along the way. Usually, it’s those who represent the things the hero doesn’t have: skill, experience, or attitude.

3) A prize that’s sought and is something primal: going home, securing a treasure, or re-gaining a birthright.

We could tell how uptight Neil Page. He said he was particular about what he at and he seemed hesitant to engage in conversation with Del at first. Circumstances kept driving the men together. The film Sliding Doors came to mind while watching this. One choice drove Neil to have this life altering journey.

Had he have just waited to catch the later flight he would have been most likely able to get home that night. It felt as though it was also Neil's destiny to learn to be more patient and to go with the flow more. He even tried to break away from Del but was inevitably forced to go back to working together.

This was definitely John Hughes at his best. The humor and heart was on point and it got the John Hughes formula right. Get them teary eyed at the very end. The premise was incredibly simple. Get Neil home for Thanksgiving. John Hughes was a screenwriter that challenged himself during writing. The most smart-ass characters that should not make you feel this much for them most assuredly will.

This might have been John Candy's most personable role. The audience loved Del so much but could totally understand why he would get under Neil's skin and vice versa.

David Willis once said when it came to writing a Christmas movie there was usually a brief sexual element and Christmas must be in jeopardy. The Canadian Mounted, the book Del was reading in the airport and the pornographic pictures in Doobies taxi provided the sexual elements.

Now it was not Christmas but Thanksgiving was in jeopardy. It was interesting to see these principals applied to this film. Also, like Hitchcock, life and death stakes were added. They almost got killed in a wreck and at various points either man could have frozen to death.

They were robbed at one time. The balance between humor and serious was masterfully manipulated by Hughes here. The ending of the film was always the best part, a teary eyed Mrs. Page hugging her husband after not seeing him after two days and John Candy hugging his hat as the music plays and faded to black.

The film featured storytelling at its best. Too many comedies were just cheap jokes. Every joke felt earned and the story came first to hang the jokes on as opposed to an Adam Sandler movie. Let us act like complete buffoons until the obligatory serious moment appeared.

Everything just flowed together so seamlessly. You could feel the awkwardness when the movie was awkward and you could feel the tension when the film was tense. Overall the film was probably an A minus. Timeless Thanksgiving classic for sure.