Planes, Trains and Automobiles

As recent variations of an age-old movie genre go, it is fairly good, but somehow you hope for more from Steve Martin and John Candy.

Mainstream audiences should readily identify with the series of tribulations and woes that befall the Everyman Martin in this good-natured, albeit predictable comedy.

Planes,Trains and Automobiles is a very funny film.

A warm, mature offering from Hughes, with Martin's restraint a perfect counterpoint to Candy's enormous (and enormously amusing) fooling around.

Pretty dispensable.

It is, of course, always a pleasure to watch Martin's steam-gauge face register his rising internal pressures and to witness his exquisitely expressed blowoffs. But Candy offers even more insinuating delights.

What does ring true is the captivating acting, the zippy pace, and the big laughs that Martin and Candy earn through their gentle rapport.

The quintessential mix of Thanksgiving anxiety, Steve Martin and John Candy antics, and John Hughes’ irreverent comedy.

Frankly, if you’re a fan of this film, the deleted/extended scenes plus the lovely video restoration/remaster may be enough to warrant buying it immediately.

Where disaster after disaster can become tiring, they continue reinventing themselves up to an unexpected ending where, after so much laughter one ends up on the brink of tears. [Full review in Spanish]