Planes, Trains and Automobiles

What’s the Story?

Neal Page and Nell Griffith couldn't be more unlikely traveling partners, let alone friends. Neal, a wearied executive from the Chicago suburbs who has sat in on one too many business meetings, is desperate to come home to his wife and children for Thanksgiving dinner after his plane is indefinitely laid over in Wichita, Kansas. Played by Steve Martin, Neal repeatedly meets up with goofy shower-ring salesman John Candy in a series of coincidental encounters, beginning with Nell's unwittingly stealing Neal's New York City cab. Throughout their journey, they spar with Midwestern hicks, motel clerks, a rental car agent, and law enforcement figures, traveling not only by plane, train, and automobile, but by bus and even foot as well.

Is It Any Good?

There are some truly hilarious scenes in PLANES, TRAINS, AND AUTOMOBILES, but they aren't very appropriate for children -- at least younger ones. In one scene, the two men are forced to share a bed in a sleazy motel and Nell unconsciously cuddles with Neal in his sleep. When they wake up, horrified, Neal asks Nell where one of his hands is. He replies, "Between two pillows." Neal exclaims, "Those aren't pillows!"

Neal's love-hate relationship with Nell does not always serve as an appropriate role model, as he repeatedly tells off Nell and berates his oddball behavior. Yet, even Neal realizes his bad behavior and regrets it on several occasions, and by the end of the film, the two realize that together they've accomplished more than they could separately. Overall, teens would get a chuckle from the film's many escapades, and their parents would probably enjoy viewing it with them -- with the understanding that the humor is far from clean.