Planes, Trains And Automobiles
In a decade like the 1980s that was rife with movie comedy legends in their prime, the paradox in the career of the late John Candy was an interesting one. Long held up by many as being among the best of the era, Candy’s run differed from most in that he was usually excellent when featured in supporting roles in a number of classic movies, but yet when cast in a lead role the quality of the film would seem to falter and drop off quite a bit. There were however two exceptions to this rule late in the decade, both of which being projects written and directed by John Hughes. One was Uncle Buck, the other was this 1987 release which as stated not only saw Candy take on a lead role, but he was also paired with another hit or miss 80s comedy star in Steve Martin in an often antagonistic relationship of two guys on the road trying to make it home in time for Thanksgiving. The movie starts off with both men in New York City, as Martin’s advertising executive is desperate to make his flight home for Thanksgiving but first must sit there and watch his boss slowly and agonizingly ponder over the various ad campaign proposals laid out before him (and is never shown making a final decision). Once he escapes, he tries to hail a cab but upon finding one has it stolen away by Candy’s Del Griffith, a traveling salesman who specializes in shower curtain rings and from the way he talks seems to always be on the road. Martin finally makes it to the airport on time only to have his flight delayed and there runs into Candy again, who comes across as being a very amicable guy with almost no malice towards anybody whatsoever. When the flight takes off for Chicago only to be rerouted to Wichita, Kansas due to bad weather, Candy offers to help Martin get home, a proposal that only somewhat pleases Martin because as nice a guy as Candy is, he’s still an incessant blabbermouth with some very odd personal habits that can make it difficult for somebody to deal with him. Martin is no saint either though, starting the film as an unlikable prick and seeming to get worse as the movie goes along especially with some of the nasty treatment that he gives Candy. The upside with Candy though is with his impeccable knowledge of every affordable, out of the way hotel, bus station, train depot and car rental place anywhere in the Midwest (along with always having friends nearby to help him out) and he literally at times drags Martin kicking and screaming to these two bit dives that turn out to be perfectly acceptable accommodations in a pinch. The film admittedly suffers from a fairly weak and simple premise so the two stars have to take the whole thing over in order to keep the engine running by making comedic gold out of their onscreen chemistry and interactions. Martin in particular is distinctly unlikable for much of the way, showing little to no gratitude for Candy’s constant efforts to help him out while Candy (sporting an obtuse moustache for possibly the only time in his career) just keeps on smiling and looking on the brighter side of things to an almost ridiculous extent. A running theme throughout the movie is Martin constantly finding a reason to part ways with Candy whenever they’ve come to a certain point in their journey, only to run into Candy yet again shortly thereafter and usually in a situation where he winds up saving Martin’s ass. But surprisingly the funniest (and most famous) scene in the movie doesn’t involve Candy at all when Martin (having gone to pick up a rental car that wasn’t there) storms up to the desk of the car rental agent (Edie McClurg) and goes on an one minute rant where he uses no less than seventeen F bombs, which is not only the only time where the F word is used onscreen here, but given its frequent usage during that one given scene, is also the one thing that guaranteed that the film would receive an R rating instead of a PG-13. Reportedly, the film was a tough shoot as Hughes and his people were having a tough time finding appropriate locations while Hughes himself was allegedly dealing with some personal issues at the time. But the film still retained an everlasting appeal that would keep it in some cases at or near the top of many best comedy lists even as much of the slobbering sentiment is of the overrated variety as this is certainly a good (but not great) film. But with Martin on asshole detail for much of the time, that means that the onus is mostly on Candy to carry things off in such a way as to keep the film watchable, which he commendably does. Candy in real life was said to be one of the most genuinely nicest guys in Hollywood history and he seems to have infused the Del Griffith character with his own likable personality which goes a long way to offset Martin’s nasty bitternesss. The whole time, the story constantly cuts away to Martin’s wife (Laila Robins) preparing the Thanksgiving celebration for the family and clearly getting annoyed when finding out from her husband about the latest delay. It is painfully clear at times that Martin’s dealings with the locals in Wichita and elsewhere is quickly turning into a “redneck freaks on parade” display, as epitomized by Dylan Baker’s short bit as a pickup truck driving hillbilly type who gives our heroes a ride to the train station because his relative is a friend of Candy’s. It’s interesting that no major, known travel service would consent to lend their brand names to the film’s various examples of such as they’re all portrayed as being so bumbling and incompetent that no serious traveler would ever consider using their services in real life after seeing just how bad they were portrayed as being here. But the funny bits are still here too, most notably when Candy drives a rental car between two flatbed trucks but yet the both of them still manage to survive or in the way that Martin’s character finally breaks down and sees the morbid humor of every situation so that he and Candy can have a good laugh together through all the pain. The problem does remain that the film overall doesn’t really have much in the way of actual substance, save for Martin’s temper tantrums and Candy’s goofy, good natured personality along with the interplay between the two of them throughout the story. That’s until we get to the ending with Martin finally arriving home that we get something that even remotely approaches touching. And what an ending it is in its uplifting emotions, one so good that it may singlehandedly be responsible for the movie’s rather vaunted reputation over the years. As far as being a film that is considered a “Thanksgiving classic” (of which there really aren’t many with it being that the competition is rather thin), that ending might just have lifted people’s spirits in such a way that along with its holiday connotation (one which greatly elevated A Christmas Story as well, although that is obviously a far better movie) helped it to achieve a lasting popularity for years to come to this very day, since heavy travel delays and problems during the Thanksgiving season remain a common occurance nowadays, plus Candy’s proclivity for always managing to hustle rides from people whom he barely knows predates the age of Uber and other “ordinary people travel services” which we’re so familiar with now as well, so maybe the “timeless” label which many have bestowed upon the film is due to the ongoing familiarity that we have with travel issues come the holiday season. Some might argue (correctly) that a case might be made against Martin for allowing his temper to get the better of him which at times costs him dearly or against Candy who gets the two of them in many of their bad situations by virtue of his own stupidity (possibly brought on by exhaustion) but the winning quality of the whole enterprise might be construed by the concept that Candy (a guy who was so used to life on the road that he doesn’t know any other way of living) has in some sense “adopted” Martin who is not as adept with heavy travel situations and is now “shepherding” him home to be with his family as a sort of “guardian angel” on the road (which really explains how Candy always pops up again after Martin insists that they part ways), making it his personal life’s mission that this guy be able to see his wife and kids as quickly and safely as possible. That plus the wonderful ending is most likely where much of the love for this movie comes from, and given John Candy’s tragic passing a few years later, it stands as a tribute to a guy who remains to this day as beloved as any movie star before or since…
8/10