PLANES, TRAINS, AND AUTOMOBILES
A film review by Chad Polenz
Copyright 1997 Chad Polenz
*** (out of 4 = good) 1987, R, 93 minutes [1 hour, 33 minutes] [comedy] starring: Steve Martin (Neil Page), John Candy (Del Griffith), written, produced, and directed by John Hughes.
"Plane, Trains, And Automobiles" is a great bonding movie about two completely opposite strangers that, through a series of strange coincidences that seem perfectly logical, keep bumping into each other and driving each other crazy.
The story starts off simple enough: Neil (Martin), an ad executive from Chicago on a business trip to New York, eagerly awaits a client's approval of his project (immediately Hughes' world of fantastic satire makes itself clear). Next we see Neil running around the streets of New York trying to find a cab during rush hour. And just as it seems he has found one, someone steals it! Later at the airport, Neil recognizes the thief, who is surprisingly apologetic and seems kind. He introduces himself as Del Griffith, a shower curtain ring salesman who is constantly anxious and can't keep quiet.
Like magnets, Neil and Del keep coming together, almost as if fate won't let them separate. They end up sitting next to each other on the plane, and even end up sleeping in the same bed in the same hotel room that night. I won't explain how that happens because it would kill the point of the comedy. Hughes' story is so charming, and the acting so convincing we never once question the reality of any of the plot devices.
The chemistry between Martin and Candy at times upstages Hughes' script and direction, because it's a relationship that really can't be written. Candy's happy-go-lucky attitude is countered by Martin's cynicism and acid tongue. Consider the situation of the two being stuck in the same hotel room: while Del enjoys a beer, Neil showers to a faulty water system and is left with only a washcloth to dry himself with. And to top it off, the two must sleep in the same bed soaked with beer because it didn't occur to Del that leaving a six pack of beer on a vibrating bed might cause contents under pressure. Even more hilarity ensues when the two wake up the next morning in one of the funniest and most clever situations I've ever seen.
Why is fate so cruel to these poor guys? While at the hotel they are robbed, then travel 30 miles in the freezing cold to a train station only to have the train break down and then take a bus full of even more characters.
The last act is the best even though it takes place mostly in a car. The two rent a car and try to drive home, but as if the comedy had not already been off the wall, it becomes even more zany. Even dropping hints would give too much away, but let's just say whatever hasn't happened to Neil and Del probably will by the film's end.
We'll probably never go through such wacky adventures as Neil and Del, but "Planes, Trains, And Automobiles" is so fun to watch you'll wish the same things would happen to you.
[Note: This film could have been rated PG had it not been for a 1-minute scene in which Martin's character rattles off the "F" word many times. The film would be appropriate for children 13 and up.]
please visit Chad'z Movie Page @ http://members.aol.com/ChadPolenz
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