Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
Director: John Hughes
Screenwriter: John Hughes
Starring: Steve Martin, John Candy

You’d be hard-pressed to name a more beloved Thanksgiving movie than the late John Hughes’ Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987). For many, the film has a virtual monopoly on the holiday’s cinematic canon (sorry, Charlie Brown) and endures as quintessential post-feast viewing. And, while Hughes’ other holiday flicks such as National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) and Home Alone (1990) would go on to become living room mainstays in their own right, the king of crowd-pleasers’ first foray into holiday fare remains his most timeless. 

The film stars Steve Martin and the late John Candy as an oddball pair of unlucky travelers determined to make it home for Thanksgiving—in spite of the gamut of transportation delays thrown their way. The two are total opposites: Martin plays Neal Page, a prickly, Scroogean advertising executive who wants nothing more than to be left alone, while Candy plays Del Griffith, a chatterbox shower-ring salesman who Neal can’t seem to shake. Needless to say, Neal and Del’s perceived incompatibility makes for some delightful screwball comedy as they continually find themselves stranded. 

Anyone even marginally familiar with Steve Martin or John Candy’s work can see how inspired their casting was for a film with such a premise. These guys are their characters, and their characters are them. Their chemistry is palpable even as Neal’s standoffishness increasingly and hilariously chafes up against Del’s inability to take a hint. Hence the litany of endlessly-quoted one liners—some scripted, some improvised—which have cemented themselves in the American pop-culture lexicon (“Those aren’t pillows!”). 

And yet such iconic moments were ultimately conjured by Hughes’ brisk and gratifying script, as well as his willingness to let the performers make it their own. As Kevin Bacon—who has a brief cameo at the beginning of the film as the guy Neal races to hail a cab during rush hour—once recalled, “He wasn’t precious about his own dialogue. He was precious about his characters.”

One might recall the motel scene—in which Neal ruthlessly explodes on Del, only for Del to soberly reaffirm his security with himself, with all his idiosyncrasies and eccentric tendencies—as one of many in the film that cracks you up while tugging at your heartstrings. This is where the film hits a sweet spot: one where farcical comedy is balanced seamlessly with sincere emotional drama. Martin and Candy elevate the latent sentimentality in Hughes’ script to surprisingly moving ends, and Hughes relishes in it. Perhaps more so than National Lampoon’s and Home Alone—both of which Hughes wrote, but did not direct—Planes, Trains and Automobiles’ direction seems to be in perfect harmony with its performers, mining Martin and Candy’s brilliance for all it’s worth.

Above it all, Neal and Del’s ultimate connection—one between two lonely men who, under different circumstances, would likely remain total strangers—is what maintains the film’s continued resonance. We care about these characters because, in a way, they are us. Perhaps even more so today than in 1987, the tedium of our routines so often alienates us from our neighbors. It would not be difficult to imagine a contemporaneous version of this film sending up the impersonality of ridesharing and the gig economy. (When was the last time you made meaningful conversation with your Uber driver? What if you were now stuck with them?) 

Underneath all the film’s warm-and-fuzziness is a sort of universal truth, an exercise in empathy that has maintained its potency. As Hughes once said about the film: “I like taking dissimilar people, putting them together, and finding what’s common to us all.” These themes are not new, but they are universal—and when delivered skillfully and sincerely, comedy can become quite affecting. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is one of those films that feels like a rarity in big studios’ output today and yet timeless nonetheless, which is perhaps why it is remembered so fondly. This is a comedy that set a standard for the genre—even if, at the end of the day, it was all in the holiday spirit.

Score: 19/24

Written by Connell Oberman

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Home Alone has been considered a Christmas tradition since the moment Macaulay Culkin slapped his cheeks and yelled at the top of his lungs all the way back in 1990, but seeing the John Hughes-written and Chris Columbus-directed picture develop into a franchise of straight-to-video/dvd glorified holiday specials has given the franchise the proverbial “mixed bag” of good and bad filmmaking. In this edition of Ranked, we’re looking at all 6 Home Alone movies (yes there have been 6) and judging them in terms of quality, enjoyability, critical reception and public perception to rank each from worst to best.

Have a favourite Home Alone movie? Let us know in the comments, and follow The Film Magazine on Twitter.

6. Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House (2002)

The fourth entry to the franchise is nothing short of a disaster.

A clear cash grab intended to capitalise on the burgeoning DVD market, this Rod Daniel (K-9) straight-to-TV feature recasts the iconic roles of Kevin McCallister (once played by Macaulay Culkin) and Marv (originally Daniel Stern) and, as if that wasn’t sacrilegious enough, takes the concept to an entirely different level of absurd. Seriously, if you thought a child defending his house from fully grown men via a series of booby traps was absurd, wait ’til you get a load of this…

In Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House, Kevin McCallister must ignore the instructions of his parents and rescue a crown prince from his old foe Marv and Marv’s wife Vera.

It truly is as bad as it seems…

5. Home Alone: The Holiday Heist (2012)

Home Alone 5 (The Holiday Heist) thankfully didn’t regurgitate the great characters from the first Home Alone in some lame attempt to gather an audience, but much like our previous entry did seem like a film written before the Home Alone branding was ever slapped on it.

In many ways another sorry attempt to grab cash from willing and hopeful consumers, rather than a fitting tribute or loving extension to the Home Alone franchise, The Holiday Heist did actually offer brief glimmers of being something more than that of the franchise’s previous incarnation, notably upping the casting quality to include the legendary Ed Asner (albeit in a cameo) and A Clockwork Orange actor Malcolm McDowell.

The movie was directed by Peter Hewitt, the man who helmed Bill & Ted’s Bogus Adventure just a year after the original Home Alone was released and later directed the absurd British children’s comedy Thunderpants (2002), his work on The Holiday Heist at least attempting to replicate some of the feeling of the first few movies, albeit quite poorly.

Recommended for you: I’m a 90s Kid and I Watched Home Alone for the First Time This Year

Written and produced by the king of 80s movies, John Hughes, Home Alone holds a special place in a lot of our hearts and is a must watch around the festive season each and every year.

Thirty years after Macaulay Culkin shot to superstardom as lonely eight year old child Kevin McCallister, we at The Film Magazine are looking back at the original movie’s very best moments for this Top List of the 10 Best Home Alone Moments.

Make sure to follow us on Twitter for updates on more articles like this one.

10. Headcount Mishap

Chaos has hit the McCallister household when, due to a power outage in the middle of the night, none of the alarm clocks in the house go off – cue the line “We overslept!” From Mr and Mrs McCallister. 

As the fourteen family children pile into the airport transport mini vans, a nosey neighbour comes over to see what all the fuss is about. As he is in the back of the mini van, he clambers over all the seats and starts rummaging through the family’s bags. Megan, the oldest McCallister child, is asked to do a “head count” and miscounts the nosey neighbour as Kevin, who is actually curled up in bed unaware of the madness going on around him.

Thinking that everyone is present and accounted for, the family leave for their vacation, resulting in Kevin being (you guessed it) left home alone.

9. Gus Gives Parental Advice

After an attempt to get on a last minute flight home from Paris, Kate McCallister (Catherine O’Hara) finds herself in Scranton, Pennsylvania and her only ride home is to join a Polka tour who have kindly offered to drop her off in Chicago. 

Gus “The Polka King of the Midwest” Polinski, played by the wonderful John Candy, keeps Kate company as they make their long journey back to the Windy City. In the back of their tour van, Gus gives Kate some much needed comfort in justifying her mistake of leaving Kevin behind and confirms to her that she is a good mother. 

Between two parents, Catherine O’Hara and John Candy share a beautiful moment of comfort and kindness.