Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)

Happy Thanksgiving all!

It's always great around the holidays to revisit my favorite turkey day movie, John Hughes' PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES.

Hilarious, packed with classic physical comedy and an ending that holds an emotional wallop, this is 80's John Hughes at his best. The 5th time in the director's chair after his massive hit with Ferris Bueller the year before, Hughes delivered a huge holiday hit that grossed nearly four times its budget on the way to becoming a holiday blockbuster.

Here we are nearly 40 years later and we can all quote a dozen scenes during our annual viewing.

Steve Martin (The Jerk, Pennies from Heaven) is straight & serious businessman Neal Page, thrust together with shower curtain ring salesman Del Griffith, played by John Candy(Stripes, Uncle Buck). They're thrown together on the road as they try to get home for Thanksgiving.

Watching it again today, all the comedy still lands, thanks to Martin's gifts as an actor and straight man Candy's absolute perfection across every bit of Del's character arc.

Memorable holiday moments abound:

Martin battling Kevin Bacon for the last cab to O'Hare...

Candy and Martin waking up together hugging after being forced to share a bed "Those aren't pillows! How 'bout those Bears...."

Martin's battle with a rental car agency clerk (Edie McLurg) is a masterclass on the selective use of profanity.

My favorite sequence sees Martin and Candy on the road in a wood paneled cousin of the family truckster in the Hughes penned legend "Vacation". Candy escalates the physical comedy to the heights of his film career as he manages to get both arms of his parka bound at his sides, spinning the wrong way down the freeway and eventually burning up their only vehicle.

Martin & Candy are a terrific pair, trading sharp dialogue and pratfalls all the way from NYC to Chicago. Look for Dylan Baker, William Windom and the great Michael McKean in small roles that generate big laughs.

Hughes script is packed with favorite moments:

• State Trooper: What the hell are you driving here?

• Del: We had a small fire last night, but we caught it in the nick of time.

• State Trooper: Do you have any idea how fast you were going?

• Del: Funny enough, I was just talking to my friend about that. Our speedometer has melted and as a result it's very hard to see with any degree of accuracy exactly how fast we were going.

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• Del: [sitting outside the motel cafe after finding out they've been robbed] You know I've been thinking. What we're dealing with here is a small-time crook. He didn't take the credit cards, right? So we charge our way home. What kind of plastic do you carry?

• Neal: I have a Visa and a gasoline card. Oh, and I have a Neiman Marcus card in case you want to send someone a gift. What do you have?

• Del: Chalmer's Big and Tall men's shop. It's a seven outlet chain in the pacific northwest. Great stuff. Unfortunately, it does us no good here.

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• Del: You play with your balls a lot.

• Neal: [scoffs] I do not play with my balls.

• Del: Larry Bird doesn't do as much ball-handling in one night as you do in an hour!

• Neal: Are you trying to start a fight?

• Del: No. I'm simply stating a fact, that's all. You fidget with your nuts a lot.

• Neal: You know what'd make me happy?

• Del: Another couple of balls and an extra set of fingers?

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Both Candy and Martin have said that this is their favorite film they ever made. It's too bad that we never got another comic pairing of these two.

A holiday tradition that we treasure every holiday season, PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES gets an A+.

Perfect holiday viewing, year after year.