John Candy and Candied Yams

For some reason my family, and thousands of other families in America, have developed the yearly tradition of watching Planes, Trains, and Automobiles while the bird bakes in the oven.  My family and I have watched this movie every year as long as I can remember and I can say that I come from a family of true John Candy fans (possibly the only one).

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles was released in 1987 by Paramount Pictures and was directed by John Hughes, better known for Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Breakfast Club, and of  Home Alone. Even though John Hughes was responsible for some of the greatest film hits of the 1980s and 1990s Planes, Trains, and Automobiles has held the biggest presence in my life. I have seen this movie so many times I can quote the whole thing and I am forced to sit next to my grandma every year and pretend I still enjoy the film.

The film tells the story of Neal Page, Steve Martin, an advertising executive who meets Del Griffith, John Candy, who must work together to get Neal home to NYC for Thanksgiving. The duo faces all sorts of bad luck along the way as Griffith is prone to bad luck. Page must make it home to his family from Chicago after being on a bad business trip. Page most deal with Griffith's sloppy behaviors as his bad luck piles up. From car thefts to plane delays, Griffith turns a  simple plan ride into a 3 day long trip from hell. They finally make it to New York and Page grows to care for Griffith. The movie ends with them building a friendship from their misfortunes. 

This movie was great the first 15 times I saw it. Candy and Martin are great actors and the story is funny for the most part. The story is like any other holiday movie...a character must overcome a series of unrealistic events to make it home in time for the festivities. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is definitely a funny movie but it is not one of my favorites. It is a good movie to watch with the family and is probably one of the few Thanksgiving movies that is funny. If you haven't seen this movie it is definitely worth seeing since it is directed by John Hughes. It wasn't his best work but it is definitely a classic...at least in my house. Have a happy turkey day and may the overeating begin!!!

-Brie