Easily excitable Neal Page (Steve Martin) is somewhat of a control freak. Trying to get home to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with his wife (Laila Robbins) and kids, his flight is rerouted to a distant city in Kansas because of a freak snowstorm, and his sanity begins to fray. Worse yet, he is forced to bunk up with talkative Del Griffith (John Candy), whom he finds extremely annoying. Together they must overcome the insanity of holiday travel to reach their intended destination.
Directed by John Hughes
Year: 1986
Believe it or not, this was a first-time watch for me!…. I KNOW! Why hadn’t I seen this before!? It’s hilarious.
What really appealed to me was the organic comedy. Nowadays it seems like you must be lewd to get a laugh. This film really relies on the characterization and situation to get by, and it works! I also realized that I need more John Candy and Steve Martin in my life. They are pretty great. If you are having a bad day, just pull up John Candy doing the Mess Around and you will be right as rain again.
The only thing that was a bit awkward was the emotionally tugging parts paired with that sad 80’s sax/keyboard. I can let that slide I guess.
I really enjoyed the story line also. It was sort of predictable towards the end, but well worth it. Hollywood has tried time and time again to redo this type of movie, but cannot recapture this one’s brilliance.
~ Trailer ~ Tomatometer ~
I can’t believe you have never seen this movie! I wish I could have watched it with you. It’s one of my favorite comedies. Did you seen the Kevin Bacon cameo? This is truely Steve Martin, John Candy and John Hughes at their best. And after suffering from a belly ache from laughing so hard (the scene when they go between the trucks on the highway kills me everytime), this movie leaves you with a warm happy feeling as Neil bring Dale home for Thanksgiving. I’ll never look at my shower curtain rings the same again!