Planes, Trains, And Automobiles: Why Steve Martin’s Holiday Classic Still Hits Home

If you’ve ever had your travel plans implode — flight canceled, car rental gone wrong, or that stranger who won’t stop talking — you already understand Planes, Trains & Automobiles.

Steve Martin’s Neal Page is all of us on a bad day: short on patience, long on deadlines, and allergic to empathy. Then he meets John Candy’s Del Griffith, a guy who sells shower curtain rings and won’t stop smiling through misery.

The film isn’t just a comedy of errors — it’s a crash course in compassion. Every laugh peels back a layer until you realize you’re watching two men heal through humor.

Why it still works today:
Because the heart behind it is real. The movie teaches us that not all detours are disasters. Sometimes, they’re the only way home.

🎧 Dive deeper into the feel-good film vibe that inspired this list in our episode on Steve Martin’s L.A. Story