Planes, Trains & Automobiles
by Cheeto
Posted on 28 May 2021
Rating -
Planes, Trains and Automobiles is a 1987 American comedy film written, produced, and directed by John Hughes. It stars Steve Martin as Neal Page, a high-strung marketing executive, and John Candy as Del Griffith, a goodhearted but annoying shower curtain ring salesman. They share a three-day odyssey of misadventures trying to get Neal home to Chicago in time for Thanksgiving with his family. The film received critical acclaim, with many critics praising it for Hughes branching out from teen comedies, and for the performances of Candy and Martin.
Some of you are probably wondering, why are you giving this film a 5 star rating, well hear me out. This is one of the best comedy films of all time. What it goes for, it achieves, actually it kicks the door off its hinges. It is a smartly written, well directed, well acted masterpiece and I will defend my opinion to the day I die. These are the reasons it is a 5 star film (in my opinion).
Firstly, it stars two of the greatest comics of all time in John Candy and Steve Martin, this is their area of expertise, and they certainly don’t disappoint. They both are written perfectly, they are the absolute complete opposites of eachother, this makes them bounce off eachohter, and there is always a small certain conflict between them. This keeps the movie engaging, and it makes the characters interesting.
I am a sucker for the roadtrip genre, maybe this makes me slightly biased to this film, but I stand by what I say. The fact that our two main characters are never settled in one place, keeps the viewer on our toes, this makes the film entertaining. Pair this with the fact that we get to see our characters travel to many different places and interact with many different people, it enables us to see a lot of what our characters are about.
John Hughes both writes and directs this film, I’m glad he does. The National Lampoons and Home Alone director is one of the best when it comes to the comedy genre. The fact that this film is not only a great comedy film, but a well written, well directed film in the traditional sense. It just goes to show how great of a writer-director Hughes was. Some comedies are funny but not good films, the fact that it doesn’t just rely on the laughs, that this film is a great feel good almost adventure movie, I hope people are starting to see why I rate this film so highly.
I’ve not mentioned the most important thing about a comedy, this film is funny. Actually, to call it funny; this would be an understatement. This film doesn’t rely on cheap slapstick to get you laughing (although I do love slapstick comedy, when it’s done right). This film gets its comedy from smartly written scenes and dialogue that have actually had thought gone into them. This film is one of the funniest films ever made, and it’s due to its smart writing.
I genuinely can’t think of any negatives to do with this film, maybe that it’s dated? But that’s what you get with a film over 30 years old.
These are the reasons why I think that Planes, Trains & Automobiles is a 5 star, and why it’s one of the greatest comedies ever made. This film is truly a blast and if you want a smartly written film that will have you laughing for 2 hours straight; this film is the film for you.
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