`Planes, Trains and Automobiles' is a movie with exactly two characters. Sure, there are various glimpses of others, including Steve Martin's Hallmark-commercial family, an amusingly pedantic supervisor, and a Kevin Bacon cameo, but the movie is intensely focused on Steve Martin's and John Candy's characters.
The basic premise is all too familiar: Neal Page (Steve Martin) is trying to get home in time for Thanksgiving dinner. Yet of course, his cab is stolen at the last second and he misses his flight. Through various moments of incredibly bad luck, including flight delays, train breakdowns and more, Neal fights an uphill battle to get home. With him is Del Griffith (John Candy), an outgoing, quirky shower curtain ring salesman written purely to push Neal to his very limits of frustration. The movie less about turkey and relatives and focuses solely on the relationship between these two characters
Page is a rather dull, distant businessman. He is the kind of man reveals few of his thoughts, outwardly polite while hiding his pure contemptuousness. He's not really an uncaring person, but he's irritable and lacks tolerance. Meanwhile, Del is possesses big, cheerful laughs and equally immense body odor, with a persistently positive attitude who manages to be both endlessly irritating and endearing.
The movie is a rather typical buddy road-trip film, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It is very light-hearted, strolling happily from one misadventure to the next. It possesses very precise comedic timing, and definitely has a few moments sure to find big laughs, which I will not divulge here. The gags range from cringe-inducing slapstick to homophobic tension to insane freak accidents.
However, not all are funny - after a certain point, the jokes seem rather tiring and extraneous - especially when the movie veers from its main themes and indulges in rather random, pointless events. I am at a bit of a loss as to why the screenwriter(s) seems to think that the bigger the obstacle is, the funnier the gag. The best moments of pure comic style are the more reserved, realistic scenes toward the beginning. Later on, the movie goes all-out with unnecessary crazy stunts and oddball antics.
The movie's predictable ending is incredibly sappy - I almost expected Steve Martin to step out and address the audience with a `moral-of-the-story' voiceover. There is also a rather annoying scene where Neal reminds the audience of all the crazy things that have happened in the movie with quick shots of previous scenes matched to Steve Martin's `ah, good times' facial expressions. However, at least I must admit that it is a rather natural story arc for his character, not simply tacked-on as might be the case in a lesser movie.
`Planes, Trains and Automobiles' is a essentially an entertaining way to spend an hour or two. As long as the viewer doesn't expect a brilliantly hilarious or deeply moving movie, some great fun can be had. For that, this movie deserves a C+.
The basic premise is all too familiar: Neal Page (Steve Martin) is trying to get home in time for Thanksgiving dinner. Yet of course, his cab is stolen at the last second and he misses his flight. Through various moments of incredibly bad luck, including flight delays, train breakdowns and more, Neal fights an uphill battle to get home. With him is Del Griffith (John Candy), an outgoing, quirky shower curtain ring salesman written purely to push Neal to his very limits of frustration. The movie less about turkey and relatives and focuses solely on the relationship between these two characters
Page is a rather dull, distant businessman. He is the kind of man reveals few of his thoughts, outwardly polite while hiding his pure contemptuousness. He's not really an uncaring person, but he's irritable and lacks tolerance. Meanwhile, Del is possesses big, cheerful laughs and equally immense body odor, with a persistently positive attitude who manages to be both endlessly irritating and endearing.
The movie is a rather typical buddy road-trip film, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It is very light-hearted, strolling happily from one misadventure to the next. It possesses very precise comedic timing, and definitely has a few moments sure to find big laughs, which I will not divulge here. The gags range from cringe-inducing slapstick to homophobic tension to insane freak accidents.
However, not all are funny - after a certain point, the jokes seem rather tiring and extraneous - especially when the movie veers from its main themes and indulges in rather random, pointless events. I am at a bit of a loss as to why the screenwriter(s) seems to think that the bigger the obstacle is, the funnier the gag. The best moments of pure comic style are the more reserved, realistic scenes toward the beginning. Later on, the movie goes all-out with unnecessary crazy stunts and oddball antics.
The movie's predictable ending is incredibly sappy - I almost expected Steve Martin to step out and address the audience with a `moral-of-the-story' voiceover. There is also a rather annoying scene where Neal reminds the audience of all the crazy things that have happened in the movie with quick shots of previous scenes matched to Steve Martin's `ah, good times' facial expressions. However, at least I must admit that it is a rather natural story arc for his character, not simply tacked-on as might be the case in a lesser movie.
`Planes, Trains and Automobiles' is a essentially an entertaining way to spend an hour or two. As long as the viewer doesn't expect a brilliantly hilarious or deeply moving movie, some great fun can be had. For that, this movie deserves a C+.