Planes, trains and automobiles was overall a pretty decent film with great performances by Steve Martin and John Candy - Martin and Candy both put on a great show, but I'd probably say that Candy was the funnier of the two.
We begin in New York 2 days before Thanksgivings and Neal Page (Steve Martin) is desperate for his meeting to finish at work so that he doesn't miss his flight to Chicago so he can spend Thanksgivings with his family. Following a great deal of difficulty in getting a cab (there is a memorable moment where Steve Martin is racing Kevin Bacon to get to a cab) Neal eventually makes it to the Airport and is annoyed when he boards the aircraft and is told that he can't sit in the first class area as there aren't any seats (even though he has a first class ticket). He reluctantly sits in the economy section and as there are no other seats he is forced to sit next to Del Griffith (John Candy) who Neal was already angry with as he stole his taxi earlier on. The flight is then re-routed to Wichita due to bad weather in Chicago. Del then suggests that they stay in a motel for the night whilst they try to work out how they are going to get back to Chicago for Thanksgiving.
Throughout the film, Del and Neal try everything they can to get back to Thanksgiving. They get a plane -that ends up being re-routed. They get a train that ends up breaking down and they hire an Automobile (hence the title Planes, Trains & Automobiles). Although they pretty much hate each other at the start of the film, they do gradually start to bond as the film progresses and end up becoming quite a team. Del even comes up with an 'ingenious' way of making money from selling shower rings - he makes people believe that they are much more valuable than they are and sells each shower ring as a 'different' valuable item to each separate customer. This scene was both clever and funny.
The film works largely because of the chemistry between Candy and Martin. Their characters couldn't be more different. Del Griffith is a slob and although he is generally well intentioned is usually irritating and clumsy and he ends up pushing Neal Page to breaking point. He also talks a lot (mostly about himself) and the things that he talks about are generally monotonous and uninteresting. Steve Martin plays more of a 'straight man' role and is not a sociable person and tries not to engage Del in conversation. He also seems to have more intelligence than Del.
I felt that the first half of the film was a little disappointing and whilst there were a few funny moments, I didn't really come across any 'laugh out loud' moments. Thankfully the second half of the film was much funnier (nearly every scene of Del and Neal when they were in the hire car was pure gold).
Despite a pretty poor first half, PTA was a very funny film (thanks to a great second half) and is a film I will watch again next time it's on TV.
We begin in New York 2 days before Thanksgivings and Neal Page (Steve Martin) is desperate for his meeting to finish at work so that he doesn't miss his flight to Chicago so he can spend Thanksgivings with his family. Following a great deal of difficulty in getting a cab (there is a memorable moment where Steve Martin is racing Kevin Bacon to get to a cab) Neal eventually makes it to the Airport and is annoyed when he boards the aircraft and is told that he can't sit in the first class area as there aren't any seats (even though he has a first class ticket). He reluctantly sits in the economy section and as there are no other seats he is forced to sit next to Del Griffith (John Candy) who Neal was already angry with as he stole his taxi earlier on. The flight is then re-routed to Wichita due to bad weather in Chicago. Del then suggests that they stay in a motel for the night whilst they try to work out how they are going to get back to Chicago for Thanksgiving.
Throughout the film, Del and Neal try everything they can to get back to Thanksgiving. They get a plane -that ends up being re-routed. They get a train that ends up breaking down and they hire an Automobile (hence the title Planes, Trains & Automobiles). Although they pretty much hate each other at the start of the film, they do gradually start to bond as the film progresses and end up becoming quite a team. Del even comes up with an 'ingenious' way of making money from selling shower rings - he makes people believe that they are much more valuable than they are and sells each shower ring as a 'different' valuable item to each separate customer. This scene was both clever and funny.
The film works largely because of the chemistry between Candy and Martin. Their characters couldn't be more different. Del Griffith is a slob and although he is generally well intentioned is usually irritating and clumsy and he ends up pushing Neal Page to breaking point. He also talks a lot (mostly about himself) and the things that he talks about are generally monotonous and uninteresting. Steve Martin plays more of a 'straight man' role and is not a sociable person and tries not to engage Del in conversation. He also seems to have more intelligence than Del.
I felt that the first half of the film was a little disappointing and whilst there were a few funny moments, I didn't really come across any 'laugh out loud' moments. Thankfully the second half of the film was much funnier (nearly every scene of Del and Neal when they were in the hire car was pure gold).
Despite a pretty poor first half, PTA was a very funny film (thanks to a great second half) and is a film I will watch again next time it's on TV.