For my collective upbringing during the 1980's, writer-director John Hughes was synonymous with "Sixteen Candles" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and other teen angst flicks. Whenever someone brought up the name John Hughes, I instantly thought of my teen crush on Molly Ringwald from "Sixteen Candles" and "The Breakfast Club." Now that I have reached the age of 51, "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" is what I think of first (a close second is the vastly underrated "Only the Lonely") and there is good reason to - there are no teenagers in it and it is all about two grown, mature adults who can act immaturely yet both are living adult lives. What's even better is that it is one of the funniest, most energetic and fun-filled comedies of the 1980's and easily would make my list of the ten best comedies of all time. Even better than that, it has Steve Martin at his most obscenely hilarious and John Candy giving us the warmest, most humane performance of his career who still manages to tickle your bone.
Almost immediately there is tension in the air. Neal Page (Steve Martin) is part of a marketing team and the boss can't decide which model photo to use, which makes Neal worried since he has to catch a flight from New York to Chicago and be home for Thanksgiving. If a character like Neal, as played by Steve Martin, would make it home in a jiffy, this movie would be a disappointment. Not so. Neal can't catch a cab without being outrun by none other than Kevin Bacon as a hurried passenger. When a cab is available, it is inadvertently stolen by Del Griffith (John Candy), a boisterous shower curtain ring salesman. It is a case of the dependable running gag for most of the film as Neal keeps running into Del Griffith, whether it is an airport or near one. At first it is on the same flight to Chicago but trouble brews when every flight is cancelled. They stay at a cheap motel where the money from their wallets are stolen! The bathrooms becomes a sloppy mess of wet towels and floor puddles, thanks to Del Griffith. Neal and Del Griffith reluctantly share the same bed where Del Griffith has spilled a lot of beer on the mattress and makes loud gurgling noises to help himself sleep. Then there is the dramatic moment where Neal shares everything he can't stand about Del Griffith - the moment of truth that does hurt Del Griffith who can't help but be who he is. This scene should be studied and revered in master classes on sublime comedy.
Everything I have described is just the beginning of this chaotic and touching road comedy. There are too many classic, inspired pieces of comedy, too many great scenes. And just when the movie could veer into cartoonish extremes (like Candy as a vision of the Devil, or the faces of Martin and Candy seen as skeletons as their car veers between two incoming 18 wheelers), the drama settles back to earth. "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" has one of the most sidesplitting scenes Steve Martin has ever performed on film as he launches an expletive-laden attack on a car-rental agent (a very memorable Edie McClurg) but that scene does not run on too long and that is the mastery of John Hughes - initially a 3 hour long cut, Hughes and his skillful editor Paul Hirsch ("Star Wars" for which he won and shared the Best Editing Oscar) shape every scene with just enough rhythm before cutting to the next comical moment - brevity is comedy's friend. Nothing feels forced and every scene is maximized by the two genuine talents of comedy for humor and ample dramatic effect. You feel compassion for both men and hope they make it out of their hapless predicaments. Already a staple of required Thanksgiving viewing, "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" is John Hughes at his zaniest, most hysterical and most human.
