Home For The Holidays, by Tyler Smith

16 Feb

PLANES, TRAINS & AUTOMOBILES (1987)

Written and Directed by: John Hughes
Starring: Steve Martin, John Candy, Michael McKean, Kevin Bacon

Among the smaller tragedies for modern film audiences is the fact that younger generations will not really remember just how great John Candy was. By all accounts, he was a big man with an even bigger heart. This translated to the screen as well. Candy played some of the nicest, most endearing characters I can remember. That may not sound very interesting, but he often managed to take these characters and make them hilarious. And, no character better exemplifies the treasure that was John Candy than Del Griffith from Planes, Trains & Automobiles.

The story of a cynical businessman (played by Steve Martin) just trying to get home for Thanksgiving and running into one obstacle after another has a lot of comic potential in itself. But, pair him with a companion who is his opposite in every way, and you’ve got one of the best (and, at times, touching) comedies I’ve ever seen.

We of the Christian faith are prone to responding to inconvenient situations with, “Well, maybe God is trying to teach me something.” I think this is perhaps said too often, and we wind up turning God into a pitiless schoolmarm, but, sometimes, I think it’s true.

And, in this film, God certainly seems to be trying to teach the businessman, Neil, something about patience and compassion. By being saddled with Del Griffith, Neil reluctantly accepts the help of a stranger. The stranger annoys him, but he has no other choice. Over the course of the film, as the two men’s paths keep crossing, Neil learns that self-sufficiency isn’t everything, and starts to accept Del for who he is. By the end of the film, Neil is faced with the fact that there’s more to Del than meets the eye. And it takes this realization for Neil to go the extra step and accept Del as a friend.

It’s a satisfying ending to a great buddy movie. It’s what every comedy should aspire to be; the humor is derived from the characters and the situations, rather than shoehorned in artificially.
Don’t agree? Watch this movie and you will.

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