My Favorite Thanksgiving Movie
We are now entering the season of Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I think it is important to use holidays to look at how we can strive to become better people, and art can be a very helpful tool to employ to help us meditate on those virtues. Until recently, I never would have thought to use films in this way, but one of the reasons I started this newsletter was to reframe the way I think about film and start conversations about how to use film for one’s benefit rather than simply one’s entertainment. Most of the films I have written about so far I think are outside of the “popular” interest of audiences, but today I want to talk about a classic American comedy that I rewatched recently and was really struck by, especially in how it relates to the holiday of Thanksgiving.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
Starring Steve Martin and John Candy, Planes, Trains and Automobiles came in a long stream of successful films written and/or directed by John Hughes: Vacation (1983), Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1986), Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986), Christmas Vacation (1989), and Home Alone (1990), to name a few. Every single one of these films is very popular in it’s own right; the amazing thing is that these movies feel very unique in many ways, they’re not known for all following a single successful formula. Of these, Planes, Trains and Automobiles might be the least well-known. But I think it stands toe to toe with and above many of the great comedy movies ever made, both by John Hughes and throughout the history of film.
Steve Martin plays Neal, a man with a successful career in marketing. When the film starts, he is desperately trying to get to the end of his final meeting before work is off for the Thanksgiving holiday so he can get home to see his family. But it drags on, and on, and on. Finally, he makes it out, only to lose a race with another salesman for a taxi cab- actually both of them lose it to an absent-minded fellow who just happens to notice an open cab and take it as Steve Martin and the other businessman (played by Kevin Bacon) argue over whose it rightfully is. Stealing Neal’s cab is how we are introduced to John Candy’s loveable but hopelessly clumsy Del.
Neal’s goal is of course a noble one: he wants to get home to see his family for Thanksgiving. It is very clear that he loves his family, but in his first interactions with other people we see that his love doesn’t extend much beyond that. He takes off after the cab that just sped away, and as it comes to a halt in a line of traffic he yanks open the door and curses Del out- or tries to, until the cab speeds off again and leaves him stranded in the middle of a busy street. Bewildered and frustrated, Neal sprints his way to the airport, leaving his briefcase behind. Upon arriving at the airport, he finds out that he has a coach ticket rather than a first class, and promptly refuses to fly. At his wits end, he finally gives in, sits down in a seat to wait on the flight, and who is across from him but Del. Shortly after the airport announces that their flight is cancelled due to weather.
Over the course of the ninety minute runtime, Neal and Del try by bus, train, car, and every other conceivable form of transportation to get back to their respective homes for Thanksgiving dinner, which is two days from the start of the film. Everything goes wrong; a thief steals their money, their rental car catches fire, they destroy a motel. The circumstances that they find themselves in very quickly become beyond belief, but the two actors give big performances that make their circumstances very inhabitable, and it’s all about the story.
As the adventures go on, they bond over laughing at all these mishaps. One of my favorite things I noticed on my most recent rewatch is that the camera is telling jokes of its own: we see the smoke of Del’s lit cigarette that he thought he tossed out the window in the backseat of the car as he tries to get his jacket off because he has all of a sudden got hot. So often in comedies the cinematography feels flat and bland and all the comedy is in the writing, but here the camera is alive. And John Candy and Steve Martin are a great duo: there’s a sheepish grin that Candy gives that is all his innocence and his clumsiness in one; no matter what he gets into he really is doing his best.
The drama often feels like it’s flying under the radar, but as the story progresses and we find out more about these characters and especially why Del is who he is, we really begin to understand compassion for these two that are each struggling with their own vices, and we know why it is those two who have wound up together. The film really leans into the hand of providence with boldness, but it never feels dishonest or cheesy. As the film comes to a close and the two part ways to go be with their families, we find out what Del’s been hiding this whole time, and it’s a heartbreaking reveal: his wife is dead, and has been for several years. He has been on the road without a home. With an odd feeling, Neal returns to the train station to check on him and make sure he is ok, and that’s when he finds out that Del has no family to go home to.
The last scene of the movie is Neal inviting Del into his home to be with his family, and he introduces Del to his wife. In their first moments Neal cursed him out, and as the film comes to a close he has made him a part of the family. This is a good reminder for all of us who want to get to our families on Thanksgiving to remember those who have nowhere to go, and to be grateful for what we have.
Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed.” Luke 14:12-14