In 1987, John Hughes released the film Planes, Trains and Automobiles, a comedy gem and a classic among travel movies. Neal Page, an example of the modern businessman played by Steve Martin, decides to go from his stifling office job in New York, to his family home in Chicago, and has two days to be with his loved ones during Thanksgiving night. But from the beginning things start to go wrong, and, of course, he crosses paths with Del Griffith (John Candy), a guy who is annoying and irritating right off the bat.
This adventurous journey of Neal Page by land and air represents, the struggle of the human being against the natural elements that decide not to collaborate for him to reach his goal, and also reveals how lonely we are.
Neal Page is a marketing director and Del Griffith is a simple salesman selling rings for bathroom shower curtains. These individuals are polar opposites that can be both endearing and irritating, and watching them interact is hilarious, especially when they both get into accidental misadventures that push them to stay together.
As they travel across America, Del will eventually discover things about himself and learn to look at people with new eyes.
John Candy projects a false cheerfulness that becomes evident as the story progresses, and Steve Martin displays a false smile that turns to honest wisdom toward the end.
Director and screenwriter John Hughes takes advantage of the skill of both actors to touch on themes of longing, family, friendship, empathy, and above all, solidarity in times of inevitable vicissitudes. It talks about maintaining humanity in a world of strangers and reminds us of the importance of looking up when walking and smiling at someone else, that alone could be enough to brighten a stranger's day.
The film features hilarious gags, hilarious situations and proves that the two leads are an excellent comedic duo.
This film is famous for the scene in which after the train could not continue with the journey due to bad weather and after another inconvenience with Del, Neal goes to the counter of a car rental company and in less than sixty seconds says 18 times "FUCK". For this reason the film was rated ¨R¨ in the United States.
The last five minutes of Planes, Trains & Automobiles portray the warmth of its protagonists without sentimentality, but with a lot of emotion and courage. John Candy's once again vivid and sincerely happy gaze remains for history for the final shot.
If you saw the movie Due Date with Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis you will realize that this is a covert remake of Planes, Trains & Automobiles. In this movie an architect must cross the entire United States to attend the birth of his son, but must endure the company of an eccentric traveling companion.
The film Planes, Trains & Automobiles behind its humor invites us to visit that sometimes strange and introspective place we should all know: ourselves.
The protagonists achieve their goal which is to go from New York to Chicago and in the meantime show the good and bad of human beings in unexpected situations, and while Neal shares time with Del this is humanizing and understanding the problems of the other, showing empathy and understanding, those final five minutes to me in particular I found very emotional touching my most sensitive part, making me a lump in my throat. Nowadays I watch it again and the effect is still the same.
Highly recommended, funny and if we see a little beyond the superfluous, the film makes us reflect.
This is my entry in the initiative Cine TV Contest #25 - Favorite Getaway/Vacation Movie. Link Here
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