PLANES, TRAINS & AUTOMOBILES is one of the best American comedies of the 1980s. I say this as somebody who's grown up and loved the film since I was a child. I'm no great fan of John Hughes, but I think this is a clear best for him as director; it's a wonderfully funny film, with great performances, direction, music and script.
Steve Martin - who's never been better as the snarky marketing executive - plays the straight man to John Candy's salesman buffoon, and the comic interplay between these two is great, like a modern-day Laurel and Hardy. The comedy comes thick and fast, mixing situational with extreme humour and slapstick besides, and there's some time for characterisation in there too.
One of my favourite things about this production is that it isn't drenched in a saccharine sweetness as with so many. Sure, there's some poignance here, but when included it's oddly touching and rather moving. The lengthy journey-by-car sequence is the stuff of brilliance.
Steve Martin - who's never been better as the snarky marketing executive - plays the straight man to John Candy's salesman buffoon, and the comic interplay between these two is great, like a modern-day Laurel and Hardy. The comedy comes thick and fast, mixing situational with extreme humour and slapstick besides, and there's some time for characterisation in there too.
One of my favourite things about this production is that it isn't drenched in a saccharine sweetness as with so many. Sure, there's some poignance here, but when included it's oddly touching and rather moving. The lengthy journey-by-car sequence is the stuff of brilliance.