Watched John Hughes's 1987 Comedy "Planes, Trains And Automobiles"

Taking a break from the AFI 100, I decided it was time for me to watch one of the only John Hughes films I had not seen.  This is the fifth film he directed.  The ones that came before were “Sixteen Candles”, “The Breakfast Club”, “Weird Science”, and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”, and all of those movies are ones that I love.  This is definitely a departure from the teen angst films he had become known for making.


The movie is about an uptight advertising executive, played by Steve Martin, who is trying to get home in time for Thanksgiving.  He meets a talkative yet well-meaning curtain shower ring salesman, played by John Candy.  A series of mishaps leads to a great adventure that tests their ability to get along.  The road from New York to Chicago was longer than intended.


This is a very funny movie.  I felt like I was laughing the entire time.  Steve Martin and John Candy are hilarious individually, but they also play off each other so well.


There are also a couple of fun and memorable cameos, including Kevin Bacon and Ben Stein.




I’m so glad this movie was well-received and financially successful (made $150 million on a $15 million budget).  I think it’s one of the funniest movies I’ve seen in a while.  I would easily recommend this film.

Related Items:
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles on DVD

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