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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»Movies - 1980s
    Movies - 1980s Movies - P 2 Mins Read

    Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)

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    Steve Martin plays Neal Page, a put-upon businessman determined to make it home for Thanksgiving, but hampered at every turn by a combination of vile weather, broken-down trains, cancelled planes, disappearing hire cars and most of all, by Candy’s cheerful dork, Del Griffith, a kind of saloon bar prophet whose prophecies invariably turn out to be accurate.

    Martin and Candy handle the physical slapstick with ease, including a manic chase the wrong way up a freeway and the demolition of a motel frontage.

    Even better, though, are the verbal exchanges between Martin and Candy, a double act that owes something to Laurel and Hardy. Martin plays a straighter role than usual but is as good as we’ve come to expect.

    But Candy is the film’s joy, mining real pathos from his role, suggesting the deeply lonely life of the travelling salesman while presenting an unremittingly cheerful face to the world.

    My favourite scene is set on a bus to St Louis when everyone’s pal Del (Candy) suggests Neal (Martin) choose the next song for a singalong. After Neal’s push for Three Coins In The Fountain, Del gets things rolling with the Flintstones theme.

    Neal Page
    Steve Martin
    Del Griffith
    John Candy
    Susan Page
    Laila Robbins
    Owen
    Dylan Baker
    Joy
    Carol Bruce
    Marti
    Olivia Burnette
    Peg
    Diana Douglas
    Motel Clerk
    Martin Ferrero
    Doobie
    Larry Hankin
    Walt
    Richard Herd
    Waitress
    Susan Kellerman
    Little Neal
    Matthew Lawrence
    Martin
    George Petrie
    Gus
    Charles Tyner
    Marie
    Susan Isaacs

    Director
    John Hughes

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