PLANES, TRAINS, AND AUTOMOBILES
A film review by David Wilcock
Copyright 1997 David Wilcock
A comedy starring John Candy and Steve Martin
A PARAMOUNT PICTURE
This film must feature one of the greatest comedy pairings of all time. Frankly, the pairing of John Candy and Steve Martin was a stroke of genius. Candy, with his lovable 'fat guy with heart' character, shows some real emotion, and Steve Martin, 'the cold hearted cynic' who we gradually start to like too. Thankfully, however, the film they have been put in toghether has got some hillarous moments in it, and is mostly funny all the way through.
Hughes has already shown that he has a good hand at teen comedy (see FERRIS BUELLERS DAY OFF for an example) and now he is working with adults. And he has now shown that he can do great films with adults aswell. The plot goes like this. Steve Martin is on his way to see his family for Thanksgiving, but naturally things horribly wrong. First of all, his cab is stolen by John Candy (after Martin paid $75 to bribe the person who called the cab to take it off him). Then, at the airport, he discovers that he will now how to be sitting next to Candy. Then the plane gets diverted, and Martin has to share a hotel room with Candy (which features one of the funniest lines involving pillows) Also in the hotel sequence, we get to see Candys first real show of emotion, and this comes off quite well without being to soppy or mushy. I won't go into the other events when Martin has to pair up with Candy, but they do involve trains and automobiles, and some good jokes.
The best thing about this film, overall, is that it is consistenly funny. Many films now have some good jokes, but also some very 'dead' moments when nothing happens. But any film with Martin and Candy has to be funny. If Hughes had carried on making films like this, and not trash like Home Alone and Beethoven, then he would be a millionare.
Overall, this is good fun, and I would recommended to anyone who's looking for a film full of laughs, but also with a bit of character and heart in there aswell.
RATING=***1/2 out of *****
REVIEW BY DAVID WILCOCK =============================== DAVID WILCOCK EMAIL:david.wilcock@btinternet.com
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