Facebook-f Youtube X-twitter Spotify Apple
Three hosts of the 3 Guys and a Flick movie review podcast with movie-themed background.
🎙 Podcast Episode 46

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Join the Guys as they review John Hughes’ 1987 Thanksgiving road-trip comedy starring Steve Martin, John Candy, Laila Robins, Michael McKean, Dylan Baker, Kevin Bacon, Edie McClurg, Ben Stein, and Lyman Ward, where one desperate advertising executive and one very chatty shower-curtain-ring salesman turn holiday travel into a full-contact endurance test of patience, friendship, rental cars, motel rooms, and emotional damage.

Release Date November 25, 1987
Runtime 93 minutes
Director John Hughes
▶

3 Guys and a Flick — Episode 46

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)

ⓘ Details

Movie TitlePlanes, Trains and Automobiles
Release DateNovember 25, 1987 in the United States
TaglineSteve Martin had no reason to panic...until John Candy came along.
Runtime93 minutes / 1 hour 33 minutes
DirectorJohn Hughes
Screenplay Written ByJohn Hughes
Based OnOriginal screenplay by John Hughes
Is It a Remake?No. Planes, Trains and Automobiles is an original road-trip comedy.
BudgetApproximately $15 million
Box OfficeApprox. $49.5 million domestic / worldwide
↑ Return to Top

👥 Main Cast

Steve MartinNeal Page
John CandyDel Griffith
Laila RobinsSusan Page
Michael McKeanState Trooper
Dylan BakerOwen
Kevin BaconTaxi Racer
Olivia BurnetteMarti Page
Diana DouglasPeg
Martin FerreroMotel Clerk
Larry HankinDoobie
Richard HerdWalt
Susan KellermannWaitress
Edie McClurgCar Rental Agent
Ben SteinWichita Airport Representative
Lyman WardJohn
↑ Return to Top

🏆 Awards

⭐ American Comedy Awards Nominee — Funniest Actor in a Motion Picture, John Candy
⭐ No Academy Award nominations were verified for the film.
⭐ No Golden Globe nominations were verified for the film.
⭐ No BAFTA nominations were verified for the film.
⭐ The film’s biggest legacy is cultural: a Thanksgiving comedy classic and one of the most beloved pairings of Steve Martin and John Candy.
⭐ Its reputation has grown over time as one of John Hughes’ most heartfelt adult comedies.
↑ Return to Top

📖 Short Plot Summary

Neal Page just wants to get from New York to Chicago in time for Thanksgiving dinner with his family. Unfortunately, a snowstorm, a diverted flight, sold-out rooms, rental-car disasters, train trouble, highway terror, and one endlessly talkative salesman named Del Griffith turn the trip into a three-day nightmare. Neal sees Del as a walking travel curse, while Del sees Neal as a new friend who just needs to loosen up. Somewhere between burned-out cars, shared beds, stolen wallets, and emotional wreckage, their miserable journey becomes an unexpectedly touching story about loneliness, patience, and getting home.
↑ Return to Top

❝ Key Quotes

“Those aren’t pillows!” — Neal Page
“You’re going the wrong way!” — Passing Motorist
“How would he know where we’re going?” — Del Griffith
“You wanna hurt me? Go right ahead.” — Del Griffith
“I like me. My wife likes me.” — Del Griffith
“You can start by wiping that dumb-ass smile off your rosy cheeks.” — Neal Page
↑ Return to Top

💡 Trivia

Director

  • Planes, Trains and Automobiles was written, produced, and directed by John Hughes.
  • The film marked a shift for Hughes, who was best known at the time for teen-focused films like Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
  • Hughes reportedly drew from his own bad travel experiences while developing the story.
  • The film keeps Hughes’ usual comedy and heart, but moves the focus to stressed-out adults instead of teenagers.

Cast / Casting

  • Steve Martin stars as Neal Page, the tightly wound advertising executive trying to keep control of a trip that refuses to cooperate.
  • John Candy plays Del Griffith, the shower-curtain-ring salesman who is annoying, sincere, lonely, and impossible not to love by the end.
  • Steve Martin and John Candy’s chemistry is the backbone of the movie, bouncing between rage comedy, buddy-road-trip chaos, and genuine tenderness.
  • Edie McClurg’s car rental scene became one of the film’s most famous comic blowups.
  • Kevin Bacon appears briefly as the taxi racer competing with Neal in the opening stretch.

Soundtrack / Score

  • Ira Newborn composed the film’s score.
  • The soundtrack includes a mix of pop, rock, and comedy-friendly music cues that match the movie’s travel chaos.
  • “Everytime You Go Away,” performed by Blue Room, is strongly associated with the film’s emotional final stretch.
  • The music helps the movie shift from loud frustration to bittersweet realization without losing the comedy.

Location

  • The story follows Neal and Del from New York toward Chicago, with disasters sending them through Kansas, Missouri, and other detours.
  • Filming took place in several states and locations, including New York, Illinois, Missouri, and California.
  • Some New York road scenes were filmed in western New York, including the Boston, New York area.
  • The movie’s variety of airports, motels, train stations, highways, and rental counters gives it the feeling of a full holiday travel meltdown.

Behind-The-Scenes

  • The film was released by Paramount Pictures on November 25, 1987, the day before Thanksgiving.
  • The reported production budget was approximately $15 million.
  • Box Office Mojo lists the domestic lifetime gross at $49,530,280.
  • The original cut was reportedly much longer than the theatrical version, with extensive extra footage and subplots later removed.
  • A 2022 4K release included deleted and extended footage recovered from the John Hughes archive.

Nostalgia

  • Planes, Trains and Automobiles has become one of the essential Thanksgiving movies.
  • The movie works because it is both painfully funny and quietly sad, especially once Del’s real situation becomes clear.
  • For anyone who has ever been stranded, delayed, rerouted, or trapped with a stranger while traveling, this movie hits a little too close to home.
  • The film remains one of John Candy’s most beloved performances because Del is ridiculous, frustrating, vulnerable, and deeply human.

Easter Eggs

  • The title is basically the structure of Neal’s suffering: every mode of transportation makes the trip worse.
  • The “Those aren’t pillows!” scene became one of the most quoted moments in 1980s comedy.
  • Del’s trunk is practically a character of its own, dragging behind him like emotional baggage with handles.
  • The burned-out rental car scene turns a standard road-trip disaster into one of the movie’s best visual jokes.
  • The final train-station realization reframes Del from comic nuisance to heartbreaking lonely traveler.

Misc.

  • Planes, Trains and Automobiles is rated R, largely because of Neal’s famous profanity-heavy rental car rant.
  • The movie runs about 93 minutes.
  • It opened with approximately $7 million and finished its domestic run with about $49.5 million.
  • Rotten Tomatoes summarizes the movie as a comedy about Neal Page trying to get home to Chicago for Thanksgiving while being forced to travel with Del Griffith.
  • Your 3 Guys and a Flick ratings page lists Planes, Trains and Automobiles as Episode 46, with Don rating it 3.50, Ken rating it 4.00, Jon rating it 4.00, and an overall rating of 3.83.
↑ Return to Top

🔗 Sources Cited

3 Guys and a Flick — Episode 46 Listing 3 Guys and a Flick — Ratings IMDb — Planes, Trains & Automobiles IMDb — Full Cast & Crew IMDb — Awards IMDb — Quotes IMDb — Taglines IMDb — Soundtrack IMDb — Filming Locations IMDb — Trivia Box Office Mojo — Planes, Trains & Automobiles Box Office Mojo — Release Details The Numbers — Planes, Trains and Automobiles Rotten Tomatoes — Planes, Trains and Automobiles Metacritic — Planes, Trains and Automobiles
↑ Return to Top

Other Recommended Holiday Movies...