A road trip movie, a buddy comedy and teen-angst director du jour, John Hughes’ first attempt at a holiday movie. It’s a classic double-act farce that might not fit that well in the decade it came out in. There are no guns or bad guys like 48 Hours or Lethal Weapon; no winks at Cold War anxiety a la Spies Like Us; and no time machine like Bill and Ted used in their excellent adventure. What it does share with a number of his best works is that mix of Norman Rockwell and Frank Capra in Reagan’s America late 80’s vibe. Steve Martin’s Neal wants to get home to his family for the November holiday; John Candy’s Del, as we find out by the end, doesn’t even have a home to go home to. Despite whatever hell they’ve put each other through, they’re friends after all is said and done – and you should always invite friends over for Thanksgiving when they’ve got nowhere else to go. So for this episode of the 80’s Flick Flashback, guest co-host Laramy Wells joins Tim Williams to do their best to make the trek from New York City to Chicago by way of Witchita (and even Wisconsin) as they discuss “Planes, Trains and Automobiles”.
Here are some additional behind the scenes trivia we were unable to cover on this episode:
Sources: Wikipedia, Imdb, Rotten Tomatoes, Box Office Mojo, Looper.com, MentalFloss.com, RollingStone.com, YouTube - “Getting There Is Half the Fun: The Story of Planes, Trains and Automobiles” & "The Lost Version of Planes, Trains and Automobiles: A Docu-Mini"
Intro & Outro Music: “Total Eclipse” by Nathaniel Wyver
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