"So Let it Be Written... So Let it Be Done"

The life and times of a real, down to earth, nice guy. A relocated New Englander formerly living somewhere north of Boston, but now soaking up the bright sun of southwestern Florida (aka The Gulf Coast) for over nine years. Welcome to my blog world. Please leave it as clean as it was before you came. Thanks for visiting, BTW please leave a relevant comment so I know you were here. No blog spam, please. (c) MMV-MMXIX Court Jester Productions & Bamford Communications

Saturday, November 25, 2006

SNMR 2.12: "Planes, Trains & Automobiles"

In recognition of Thanksgiving, tonight's SNMR feature is "Planes, Trains & Automobiles" (1987, R, 92 minutes), starring Steve Martin and John Candy. The film was directed by John Hughes.

This is one of those films that I first saw when I was a teenager working at the movie theater in my hometown. I've seen it dozens of time since then and it still is very funny. For me, this movie is always a tear jerker at the end because it reminds me how much we can take for granted our families and the houses that we call home.

From the DVD's dust case:
Neal Page is an advertising executive who just wants to fly home to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with his family. But all Neal Page gets is misery. Misery named Del Griffith - a loud mouthed but never the less loveable, salesman who leads Neal on a cross-country, wild goose chase that keeps Neal from tasting his turkey.
Steve Martin (Neal) and John Candy (Del) are absolutely wonderful as two guys with a knack for making the worst of a bad situation. If it's painful, funny, or just plain crazy, it happens to Neal and Del in "Planes, Trains & Automobiles." Every traveler's nightmare in a comedy-come-true!


From Martin & Porter's DVD & Video Guide 2006, p. 882:
Although it tends to lose momentum in the last half, this screamingly funny film features Steve Martin and John Candy at the peak of their comedic powers. Martin is an uptight marketing executiveen route from New York to Chicago to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family, only to end up on a bizarre cross-country odyssey with an obnoxious bozo played by Candy.


This is definitely a Martin & Candy vehicle as the rest of the cast is ensemble, featuring cameos by Kevin Bacon, Ben Stein, Michael McKean, Edie McClurg and a very young Matthew Lawrence. Hughes has used some of these actors in other films he has directed. The script is well written, in spite of too much swearing which is the only reason this film garnered an "R" rating. The humor is subtle and the two leads play off of each other nicely. I like this film a lot. I'll give it four out of five stars.

8 Comments:

At 25 November, 2006 21:58, Anonymous Anonymous said...

hey i remember that movie! your nostalgia has made me want to rent it on netflix. very cool blog you have here. i shall come visit you again.

 
At 25 November, 2006 22:12, Blogger Tim said...

meander: thanks for stopping by and visiting. New readers and commenters are always welcome. I hope you'll make this a regular stop on your journey through blogland.

If you like this film, check out the other reviews from past SNMR posts - all links on the left..

 
At 26 November, 2006 21:32, Blogger Nunzia said...

hmm...thanks... never seen it. I hope you're well and that Thanksgiving was a good one. Sorry I've been gone so long...

 
At 26 November, 2006 22:06, Blogger Tim said...

nunzia: hey who could blame you for being away. getting used to married life plus law schoool must be a hectic life...

My Thangsgiving was excellent. Hope yours was just as good.

 
At 28 November, 2006 08:34, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I need your help.

Please come quickly!

 
At 28 November, 2006 17:49, Blogger c nadeau & t johnson said...

I was gonna write something positive about this movie until I read the words, "Never seen it."

My faith in humanity is now zero.

 
At 28 November, 2006 20:11, Blogger Tim said...

scribe: yeah but she's still cute, even though she's married. So we can forgive her indiscretion....

 
At 29 November, 2006 12:03, Blogger c nadeau & t johnson said...

No, sir! That's why cute women continue to move amongst the rest of us in clueless fashion. It's time we drew a line in the sand, ignored our crotches, and said, "ENOUGH!"


Who's with me!?

 

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