Planes, Trains and Automobiles... does NOT live up.

Funny, but a little mean

Happy Thanksgiving to all! We reviewed the classic ode to Thanksgiving travel irritations, Planes, Trains and Automobiles. It entertained us, but ultimately Jess's kids voted that it was a little too mean for their liking. We all prefer the mini-remake of this movie that appears at the end of Home Alone. 

We've reviewed a number of John Hughes movies, and there's a running trope of his characters being nasty to each other at the beginning of the film: Ferris Bueller bullies and gaslights (and kicks!) his friend Cameron, the Adventures in Babysitting team blackmail and threaten each other, Kevin McCallister's family yells at him, and the Breakfast Club crew harass and physically fight each other. 

Planes, Trains and Automobiles uses this same device: John Candy's character Del acts obliviously rude and disgusting (mooching money, too much talking, taking off shoes on the plane, putting dirty underwear in communal spaces)... and Steve Martin's character Neal is a straight up Karen (yelling at Del, yelling at the flight attendant, yelling at the car rental attendant, yelling, yelling, yelling). 

The success of John Hughes movies (in our Live UP podcast metrics) depends on the characters joining forces and overcoming their awful behavior. While Amanda found the ending of Planes, Trains and Automobiles wholesome enough, Jess and her kids thought Neal was WAY TOO MEAN to Del in the beginning; the rest of the movie didn't overcome his peak meanness. 

It landed on a wholesome ending

You can listen to the LiveUP Podcast review of Planes, Trains and Automobiles below, on Youtube, or on your favorite streaming platform.