10 Classic Road Trip Movies4 of 10
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987)
There are plenty of great holiday films but few that focus specifically on Thanksgiving. This classic R-rated comedy, with some serious heart-tugging touches, continues the odd-couple-on-a-road-trip theme with Steve Martin and John Candy as polar opposites fighting every imaginable obstacle on an attempt to get from New York to Chicago. This is a Murphy's Law film and also a big change for writer/director/producer John Hughes, who was best known at this point for teen angst films like The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Sixteen Candles. Hughes said he was inspired to write this film after a flight he took from New York to Chicago was diverted to Wichita, Kan., taking him five days to get home. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles didn't win any Oscars, but it is said to be the late John Candy's favorite film that he made.
There are plenty of great holiday films but few that focus specifically on Thanksgiving. This classic R-rated comedy, with some serious heart-tugging touches, continues the odd-couple-on-a-road-trip theme with Steve Martin and John Candy as polar opposites fighting every imaginable obstacle on an attempt to get from New York to Chicago. This is a Murphy's Law film and also a big change for writer/director/producer John Hughes, who was best known at this point for teen angst films like The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Sixteen Candles. Hughes said he was inspired to write this film after a flight he took from New York to Chicago was diverted to Wichita, Kan., taking him five days to get home. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles didn't win any Oscars, but it is said to be the late John Candy's favorite film that he made.