This is the best Thanksgiving movie and it’s not even close

Planes, Trains & Automobiles is the Thanksgiving movie; an all-time, all-ages comedy classic with a timeless message: be kind, learn to laugh at life’s bumps, and always plan ahead. 

Sorry, sun worshippers, but this is the greatest time of the year: ice-blanketed grass, afternoons that slip into the depths of night in the blink of an eye, finger-numbing frost and near-Arctic winds, the fuzzy comfort of Christmas creeping in as a balm to any winter blues. 

However, Thanksgiving’s proximity to the yuletide festivities (not to mention Halloween a few weeks prior) has had an unfortunate consequence: it’s a season often neglected by cinema (Nora Ephron is innocent, of course). That’s not to say there aren’t any good films (Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving is deliciously vicious, and The Ice Storm is essential), but it’s not known for inspiring a must-tick, annual list of rewatchables. 

Then again, how could anything else truly compete with one of the greatest movies ever made? Let’s just say, love is not a big enough word for how I feel about Planes, Trains & Automobiles. 

Planes, Trains & Automobiles is everyone’s nightmare

Paramount Pictures

The movie follows Neal Page (Steve Martin), an advertising bigwig from Chicago, who tries to make it home from New York for Thanksgiving. 

As soon as he steps out of his office, everything goes wrong; he trips over a trunk, somebody steals his cab, first class is overbooked on his flight, and he happens to be sat next to the maker of his madness: Del Griffith (John Candy), a happy-go-lucky salesman (shower curtain rings, specifically) who’s hilariously oblivious to himself. 

It’s a palm-sweatingly familiar set-up. We’ve all felt like the universe is conspiring against us around the holidays, and Planes, Trains & Automobiles is an onslaught of worst-case scenarios: delays, theft, disgusting motel rooms, breakdowns, fires – you name it, but short of killing someone, Neal and Del’s (mis)adventure has it all. 

Of course, in the hands of John Hughes, Candy, and Martin, a neverending nightmare is the perfect vehicle for comedy gold; if you don’t laugh at “Those aren’t pillows!” and Del literally turning into the Devil (I won’t be the first to make this comparison, but PTA is almost a spin on Dante’s Inferno), you are one unique individual – which is Latin for assh*le. 

Planes, Trains & Automobiles is perfect for Thanksgiving 

Paramount Pictures

Picture this: you’ve stuffed your face with turkey and trimmings, you sink into your sofa, and with your family full and satisfied, on the brink of dozing off, you press play on Planes, Trains & Automobiles. It doesn’t matter what age you are – it’s funny for everyone. 

I know what you’re thinking: Martin’s extraordinary, profane outburst in the airport isn’t appropriate for kids. To that, I say you’re wrong: learning bad language is an inevitability, and Neal’s face-off with the car rental clerk is maybe the most justified use of “f**k” in movie history. 

The beauty of Planes, Trains & Automobiles is its simplicity, even as its comedy hijinks get increasingly preposterous: it’s about two men who want to go home, even if they’ve lost sight of what ‘home’ even means. 

Neal’s life is rosy: he has a beautiful wife, kids that look like they were lifted from a Christmas card, an enormous house that rivals the McAllisters’ home, and a high-paying job. As Del says, he “hasn’t been home in years”, and it’s only at the end of the film we find out why: his wife Marie has been dead for eight years, so he’s stayed on the road to distract him from his heartbreak. 

It’s a tear-jerking reveal, but Hughes answers it with a moment of pure joy: with the riff of Paul Young’s ‘Every Time You Go Away’, the movie cuts to Neal and Del carrying the trunk along the road to Neal’s home, and he joins them for dinner. Hughes may be competing with himself for the best comedy ending of all time (Ferris Bueller and The Breakfast Club are contenders), but this is deservedly iconic, and it hits every single time. 

As Planes, Trains & Automobiles reminds us, one of the gifts of life isn’t just the family you’re born with, it’s the family you find along the way; that’s worth giving thanks for. 

As we approach the end of the year, check out our list of the best TV shows of 2024, and find other new movies you can watch this month.