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69 of 70 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It is ironic that the best movie that John Hughes made wasn't a teen movie, March 17, 2008
When I think of "Planes, Trains & Automobiles" I smile. It is an absolutely wonderful movie. Yes, it is regarded as a comedy but when I think of it I think of it as more of a drama. The jokes don't get old. This is probably my favorite comedy of all time. Hughes takes the traveling nightmare genre to a whole new level. It's more a triumph in script writing than anything
For those who don't already know Planes, Trains and Automobiles is simple in its approach. Everything that can go wrong does. It's a comic routine that can be funny, but here it is a trip to hysterical. The plot is simple enough as well. Neal Page (Steve Martin) is on his way home for Thanksgiving. He's your typical businessman that works in New York and has a family he wants to see in Chicago. The only problem is everything from delayed flights to ripped up car tickets happen on the way. Only worsening matters, Del Griffith (John Candy), is along for the ride. An annoying shower curtain ring salesman, Neal can't get rid of him no matter how hard he tries.
John Candy gives the performance of his too short career as the traveling shower curtain ring salesman Del Griffith. What makes Candy's performance so impressive is that while Del is an obnoxious, annoying slob, Candy shows that this is a very lonely, sweet, kind, and caring man with a great heart. This is a man who is putting his needs behind the needs of another person, a complete stranger in Neil Page. Candy creates an incredibly complex man, who the audience really gets to know and genuinely care about. They say comedies are the hardest films to get nominated for Oscars, which is true. And while "PT & A" is no Best Picture winner, it certainly in my mind has a performance not just worthy of a nomination but of an Oscar as well. It would be interesting to see how Candy's performance would be regarded if the film came out today.
The ending, whew!, it's a rough one. And again, despite all the wonderful comedy in this film, whenever I think of "PT & A" I think of the wonderful character of Del Griffith and the powerful ending. If you haven't seen this movie, rent it. I strongly recommend it as a first rate comedy that doesn't come along often. Whether it's the music capturing the perfect mood in the hilarious bedroom scene or meeting Owen, it's an earnestly frantic and tender trip through the modern transportation system.
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56 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Here's what's on it, August 18, 2009
For those of you thinking about buying this new DVD version, here are the extras on it: 3 featurettes ("Getting There is Half the Fun: The Story of Planes Trains and Automobiles", "John Hughes for Adults", "John Candy"), and a deleted scene ("Airplane Food").
Not bad, but would have liked to see more deleted scenes since apparently Hughes had a 3 hour version of this movie. Maybe those will come out eventually.
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74 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You'll be doin' the Mess Around 'cause THOSE AREN'T PILLOWS!, August 3, 2000
A stellar performance from Steve Martin and the late, great John Candy. I don't know where that guys doing the Editorial Reviews are coming from, this movie is great! Steve Martin is stuffy ad executive Neil "I can take anything" Page and John Candy is the bungling but warm-hearted shower-curtain-ring guy (I know what you mean), Del "Extra set of fingers" Griffith. We follow this mismatched pair half way across the States and back again as they encounter one crisis after another. As the title says, our heros travel whatever way they can to get to Chicago- from planes to trains to cars. One of the funniest scenes is when after Del gets his coat caught behind the driver's seat, panics and sends the car on a tailspin causing him to go the wrong way down the Interstate. We see their car get caught between two semis. During the squeeze, Neil looks and sees Del as the Devil, complete with pitchfork and horns. In all, this movie is great! You will not be disappointed, that I can promise you because it's "filled with helium, which makes it 10% lighter."
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