Ein Ticket für zwei

I Have Reviewed OVER 500 "Christmas Films and Specials". Please BEWARE Of films and specials with just one review! For instance When "It's a POSITIVE" chances are that the reviewer was involved with the production. "If its Negative" then they may have a grudge against the film for whatever reason. I am fare about these films.

Review Date 3/25/2019

In 1987 "Planes Trains & Automobiles" opened in theaters the same weekend as "Three Men and a Baby". The critics went gaga over "Three Men" but gave only "so-so" reviews to "Planes Trains and Automobiles" however over the years "Planes" reviews have come around and is now considered one of John Hughes best work and I agree. However I thought that when I first saw it in 1987.

Now 32 years later "Three Men and a Baby" comes across like a feature length sitcom but "Planes Trains & Automobiles" has improved with age and at lighting fast 92 minutes you are never bored.

The simple plat is Steve Martin is an uptight business man trying to get home for Thanksgiving. Everything goes wrong for him. His traveling companion by default is John Candy who has never been better and brings depth into a character that only John candy could.

In 1987 I think critics were reviewing the film harshly because the film went over schedule and budget. "Three Men & a Baby" however did not have bad press to overcome from its production. However when you are watching that film today you will see the "Cookie Cutter" that was always there in the film. "Planes trains & Automobiles" took for more chances and dared you too like two characters that at times weren't very nice.

If you never have seen the film please watch it. The older you are the more you will enjoy it.

This film is by far one of Steve Martins best performances as well as John Candy's. The only films John Hughes wrote that were better than this is "Vacation" and "Christmas Vacation". However all of them are classics and should be mandatory watching.

In New York, the marketing executive Neal Page (Steve Martin) wants to travel home in Chicago after hours for Thanksgiving. He has difficulties to get a taxi and his flight is canceled. He meets in the airport the clumsy and talkative shower curtain ring salesman Del Griffith (John Candy) that has taken his cab and they travel side-by-side to Chicago. However the bad weather shutdown the O'Hare Airport and they land at Wichita, Kansas. They both want to go to Chicago and they decide to travel together. Along their journey Neal changes his viewpoint about Del Griffith and his own behavior.

"Planes, Trains & Automobiles" is a funny and heartwarming comedy by John Hughes. Steve Martin and John Candy are among the best comedians of the 80's and their chemistry is amazing, giving one of the best performances in a comedy. The emotional conclusion is beautiful and never corny. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Antes Só do Que Mal Acompanhado" ("Better off Alone than with Bad Company")

John Candy was a comic genius. He really was. Never was his talent on display better than it was in this film. John Hughes and John Candy went on to develop what I can only surmise was quite the friendship because Candy appeared in many Hughes films either as the star ( this one, Uncle Buck, Great Outdoors ) or with a cameo ( Home Alone, Vacation and a few others that I can't think of right now, but check the IMDb and you'll see that he did ). But of all the films that Candy did, including Stripes, I don't think he has ever been as good and as funny as he was in here. If there was any justice in the Academy ( and we all know that is an oxymoron, Academy and justice ) then Candy would have at least been nominated for best actor in 1987. I think Douglas won that year for Wall Street and he deserved to but Candy was brilliant in this film. It was a shame to see his career cut short because even in his bad films he was good. This is his best and most complete role. He will be missed but at least we have great roles like this to remember him by.

Planes.... is a film about one man trying to get home for the American Thanksgiving. He is Neil Page and he is played with perfect smugness by Steve Martin. He is a work-a-holic and his lifestyle is that of many John Hughes family men that live in suburbia Chicago. He lives in a huge house, much like the one in Home Alone and Weird Science, and his family is a beautiful one that consists of a lovely wife and three kids. But he is never home and for all of his success professionally, it is the kind of family that although is together now, it may not survive the fast approaching 90's if Neil Page continues his ways.

John Candy plays Dell Griffith. He is a jolly man, much like Santa Clause but without the beard and the old age. This is a man that carries a giant trunk around with him and is a constant chatter box. He is the kind of man that you know is good at sales, but on a lower level. He is too much of a slob to really be a corporate sales guy. Of course this Laurel and Hardy pair cross paths and from here on out Neil's simple task of getting home to his family for Thanksgiving is going to be a journey from hell.

First of all he loses his cab in New York rush hour to Candy who unwittingly steals it from him, then he is bumped from first class and ends up sitting next to Candy on the plane. Then they are delayed because of weather problems and what do you know, they end up spending the night together in not only the same hotel, not only the same room but the same bed. This presents all sorts of comic possibilities and Hughes doesn't miss one of them. His comic timing and development of the two characters is brilliant. Some of the best scenes are when the two are bantering and Candy is verbally assaulted by Martin. Martin goes off and says that he is annoying to listen to and then he says this: " You know I could sit through an insurance seminar and still look happy and the others would say how do you do it? And I would say, because I can take anything, I've been with Dell Griffith, and they'd say, " I know what you mean. Whooooo, shower curtain guy! " And as funny as that scene is, Hughes goes for more than the quick payoff of laughter. He then reminds you that this isn't just a comedy but a film with many layers and substance to it. Because the next scene has Candy delivering a monologue that almost makes you embarrassed for laughing at what Martin said.

But truth be told, first and foremost, this is a funny, funny film. And if anyone has scene it, they will tell you about the airport scene where Page has lost his rental car and he comes back and does what we have all dreamed of doing ourselves, he goes ballistic on the person behind the desk, who subsequently is Grace, from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. She must have been fired by Ed Rooney and now rents cars at airports for a living. She plays a desk clerk that has decided to take the Thanksgiving holiday a little sooner that she is supposed to. Martin comes in and she starts by saying, "Can I help you?" Martin replies, "You can start by wiping that f***ing dumbass smile off your rosy f@**ing cheeks. " From there he goes into an F-Word filled tirade about how her company left him in the middle of f***ing nowhere with f****ing keys to a f***ing car that isn't f***ing there. It is one of the funniest moments that I have seen in any film because you don't expect it from a Hughes film.

Planes... is a heart warming film about family, friendship and good will towards men. It is also a wickedly funny movie and it will stand the test of time and I think in 30 or 40 years from now, it may be looked upon as Hughes best film. Candy and Martin are wonderful in here and it is really a treat to watch them work together.

10 out of 10

I'm not sure who is responsible for bringing Steve Martin and John Candy together,but they are a genius in my book,and they were brought together with just the right material.This comedy from John Hughes is without question his best work as a director. I look at this film as a modern day Laurel and Hardy romp,which, incredibly was not included in the AFI's Top 100 comedies.It will cause you tears,both from laughter and it's touching ending.It is about two very different ways of life,clashing in the beginning, but slowly coming together from the realization they we are all human,despite our differences.It is becoming a tradition at the Williams household to view this movie every Thanksgiving.It is a must see,must own film. Thumbs up.

Steve Marin and John Candy are hilarious together in this comedy about a guy trying to get home to his family for thanksgiving with a guy who is really annoying. Everything that could go wrong to these guys goes wrong. Steve Martin plays a guy who is a businessman who is very uptight and John Candy plays a guy that means well but talks a lot and can be very annoying. Together they have the worst luck they could possibly have. During their venture they learn a lot from each other and become really good friends. This movie has a good storyline and will keep you laughing through most of the movie. I think anyone who has a sense of humor can appreciate this movie.