Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

John Hughes

Writer:

John Hughes (written by)

Release Date:

25 November 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Steve Martin had no reason to panic...until John Candy came along.

Plot:

A man must struggle to travel home for Thanksgiving, with an obnoxious slob of a shower ring salesman his only companion.

Plot Keywords:

Shower | Thanksgiving | Shower Curtain | Illinois | Advertising

US TV Schedule:

Sun. Nov. 22	8:30 AM	COMEDY
Sun. Nov. 22	2:30 PM	COMEDY

Cast

Steve Martin	...	Neal Page
John Candy	...	Del Griffith
Laila Robins	...	Susan Page
Michael McKean	...	State Trooper
Kevin Bacon	...	Taxi Racer
Dylan Baker	...	Owen
Carol Bruce	...	Joy
Olivia Burnette	...	Marti
Diana Douglas	...	Peg
Martin Ferrero	...	Second Motel Clerk
Larry Hankin	...	Doobie
Richard Herd	...	Walt
Susan Kellermann	...	Waitress (as Susan Kellerman)
Matthew Lawrence	...	Little Neal
Edie McClurg	...	Car Rental Agent

Also Known As:

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (USA) (video box title)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Ireland:15 | Netherlands:AL | Iceland:L | Canada:14A (Ontario) | South Korea:15 | New Zealand:PG | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Canada:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Peru:PT | Singapore:PG | Sweden:7 | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #28537) | West Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Acton, California, USA

Company:

Hughes Entertainment

Trivia:

John Candy and Steve Martin eat dinner on the plane in a scene that is not in the theatrical version though it airs on the televised version. The scene ends with a long-haired passenger in front of Steve Martin letting his or her hair cascade down onto his brownie, completely covering it. No longer hungry, John Candy fishes through the hair to retrieve and eat it.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: A bus from Jefferson City to St. Louis would not cross the Mississippi; it would enter St. Louis from the other direction.

Quotes:

Neal: You know everything is not an anecdote. You have to discriminate. You choose things that are funny or mildly amusing or interesting. You're a miracle! Your stories have NONE of that. They're not even amusing ACCIDENTALLY! "Honey, I'd like you to meet Del Griffith...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in In the Strangest Places (2005)

Soundtrack:

(Meet) the Flintstones

The best Thanksgiving movie ever!

When jittery advertising executive Neal Page (Steve Martin) is trying to go home for Thanksgiving, he gets stuck with boorish shower ring salesman Del Griffith (John Candy). Their experiences over the next two days are some of the funniest moments ever to grace the silver screen. The best parts are the "pillow" scene, the car rental scene, and the freeway scene (warning: you may very well laugh yourself to death). But overall, the reason that the movie is so good is because we come to understand why these two men are like they are.

I can't do "Planes, Trains & Automobiles" justice by trying to describe it. You have to see it to understand how hilarious it is. You won't have a dull moment in it.