Review: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Steve Martin (in apparently his favourite of his own films) plays an uptight marketing exec hoping to make it home to Chicago from NY to spend Thanksgiving with his wife (Laila Robins) and kids. Unfortunately, his meeting with boss William Windom runs long, he can’t find a cab (Kevin Bacon, in a very funny cameo, steals one from him), and when he finally gets to the airport...the flight has been cancelled due to snow and rerouted to Kansas. His first class ticket actually turns out to be a mistake, and he ends up in the cheap seats instead. He also has the misfortune to be seated next to an obnoxious, overweight, chatty, shower curtain ring salesman (John Candy, also apparently his favourite film of his own) who may or may not have stolen another cab from him. Although a perfectly sweet and friendly man, Candy immediately rubs the rather impatient Martin the wrong way, and unfortunately, this plane trip will not be the only meeting between the two. Candy appears to be playing the human embodiment of Murphy’s Law, in that if something can go wrong, look around and Candy will likely be in the vicinity. A train breaks down, their rental car gets set on fire, they spend an uncomfortable night together in a crappy hotel room with only one bed, you name it, Candy is somehow involved. But slowly, this mismatched pair start to bond...or at least Martin starts to see the good in Candy, and be a little less grouchy towards him. Edie McClurg plays a rental car employee who gets Martin on a seriously bad day, Dylan Baker (later to co-star with Candy in the underrated “Delirious”) is a scummy redneck trucker, and Michael McKean plays a cop who pulls our protagonists over at one point.

 

Some people probably forget that writer-director John Hughes (“The Breakfast Club”, “Weird Science”, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”) was the man responsible for this very fine comedy that mixes mean-spiritedness, broad humour, and a dose of John Candy heart. For starters, it’s not a film about young people, that already sees it as somewhat of an outlier on Hughes’ resumé. It’s actually somewhat of a minor masterpiece that has been ripped off plenty of times over the years to far lesser effect because no one can compare to John Hughes, Steve Martin, and John Candy who were having a very, very good day here.

 

Martin and Candy are perfectly mismatched here; Martin is ideal as the slow-burning fed-up salesman about to experience the very worst of Murphy’s Law on the road trip (home) from hell. He’s not a bad guy by any means, just a guy who is having a very bad time that gets even worse and becomes quite hurtful when he’s at the point of frustration where he just can’t fake it anymore. Whether it’s when he is unable to humour irritating (if well-meaning) people he is forced to commute with, or in the case of Edie McClurg’s chipper car rental receptionist, employees who aren’t directly responsible for the bad situation Martin finds himself in. He’s like you and me, pretty much, except you and I might choose a few less four-letter words to let fly from our mouths in public. Martin gets another chance to blow up in the film, and it’s in a pretty incredible scene where he finally lets Candy have it…and he goes way too far. He knows it, Candy knows it, we know it. Martin’s part of the scene is hilariously cruel, but then the camera cuts to Candy hearing all of this venom and your heart breaks along with his. Hughes and the performers are to be credited for creating a scene that works both comedically and for pathos. It’s a heck of a thing to pull off. In another actor’s hands, the character might’ve come off entirely unlikeable, but Martin helps you understand the situation this poor guy is in.

 

The late John Candy is even better, in what I consider to be his best-ever performance. He’s funny, but he also tugs at your heartstrings in a performance that is so strong you can tell Candy really got this guy completely. It’s not his fault that he represents the human embodiment of Murphy’s Law for Martin’s character. Candy plays him as a nice, sweet, friendly man with a very sad inner pain the source of which is only gradually revealed. Let’s just say that this guy has a very specific reason why he finds himself on the road so much. It’s also perfect that Candy’s character is a shower curtain ring salesman, possibly the most boring and insignificant-sounding job imaginable. It’s this character and Candy’s performance that make this a little bit more than just a typical 80s comedy, Candy gives it heart. Don’t worry, there’s still plenty of laughs, including one of the few times where a ‘gay panic’ joke actually comes off as Candy and Martin are forced to share a tiny double bed for the night, and Candy ain’t exactly the smallest guy in the world. It works because these are well-meaning guys and they’re behaving very, very silly.

 

The supporting cast here features lots of famous faces, most immediately Kevin Bacon in the amusing opening scene as a taxi-stealer. As the car rental receptionist, “Ferris Bueller” co-star Edie McClurg delivers the perfect punchline to Martin’s profane, whiny tirade. Another “Ferris Bueller” alum, Ben Stein gets to do Ben Stein things over the airport PA system. Dylan Baker (in his film debut) makes for an amusingly filthy redneck, whilst long-serving character actor Charles Tyner is ominously cast as a sleazy motel owner. Perhaps best of all is a very funny cameo by Larry Hankin as Doobie, a taxi driver with Elvis hair and Centrefold pics inside his cab.

 

The film isn’t without flaw. For one thing, every cutaway to Martin’s wife (played by the forgettable Laila Robins) offers nothing but padding. I get she needed to be on screen at some point, but I think one or two scenes would’ve sufficed. The other flaw is symptomatic of quite a few 80s comedies, an irritating electronic music score by frequent offender Ira Newborn (“My Blue Heaven”, “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective”). That’s one detail pretty much every critic seems to agree on here, it’s ear-splitting (Paul Young’s ‘Every Time You Go Away’ is a perfectly nice song on the soundtrack though, and quite apt).

 

A funny comedy with some pathos provided by the late, great John Candy. Well-acted, well-written, well-directed…poorly scored. This one’s a minor masterpiece where almost every element works perfectly. The 80s really were the best decade for comedy, if you ask me.  

 

Rating: B+