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

Sorry, sun worshipers, but this is the most wonderful time of the year: ice-covered grass, afternoons that disappear in an instant into the depths of night, finger-numbing frost and almost arctic winds, the faint comfort of Christmas creeping in like a balm for every winter blues.

However, Thanksgiving’s proximity to the Christmas festivities (not to mention Halloween a few weeks earlier) 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 wonderfully cruel, and The Ice Storm is essential), but it’s not known for inspiring an annual list of rewatchable films to check off.

But how can anything else really compete with one of the best films ever made? Let’s just say love isn’t big enough for my feelings about planes, trains and cars.

Planes, trains and cars are everyone’s nightmare

Paramount Photos

The film follows Neal Page (Steve Martin), a Chicago advertising executive, as he tries to get home from New York for Thanksgiving.

As soon as he leaves his office, everything goes wrong; he trips over a trunk, someone steals his cab, first class is overbooked on his flight and he happens to be sitting next to the author of his madness: Del Griffith (John Candy), a cheerful salesman (shower curtain rings, in particular) who is hilariously oblivious to himself.

It’s a sweatingly familiar setup. We all feel like the universe is conspiring against us around the holidays, and Planes, Trains & Automobiles is a flood of worst-case scenarios: delays, theft, disgusting motel rooms, breakdowns, fires—you name it, but without killing anyone, the (wrong )Neal and Del’s adventure has it all.

Of course, in the hands of John Hughes, Candy and Martin, an endless 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 twist on Dante’s Inferno), you are a unique individual – which is Latin for assh*le.

Planes, Trains & Automobiles is perfect for Thanksgiving

Paramount Photos

Picture this: you’ve stuffed your face with turkey and trimmings, you sink into your couch, and with your family full and content, about to fall asleep, you press play on Planes, Trains & Automobiles. It doesn’t matter how old you are – it’s funny for everyone.

I know what you’re thinking: Martin’s extraordinary, profane outburst at the airport is not suitable for children. To that I say you’re wrong: profanity is unavoidable, and Neal’s confrontation with the car rental clerk is perhaps the most justified use of “f**k” in cinematic history.

The beauty of Planes, Trains & Automobiles is its simplicity, even as the comic gags become increasingly ridiculous: it’s about two men who want to go home, even though they’ve lost sight of what ‘home’ actually means.

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

It’s a tear-jerking revelation, but Hughes answers it with a moment of pure joy: With the riff from Paul Young’s “Every Time You Go Away,” the film cuts to Neal and Del carrying the suitcase along the road to Neal’s house, and he comes to eat with them. 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 rightly iconic and it hits home every single time.

As Planes, Trains & Automobiles reminds us, one of life’s gifts is not only the family you are born with, but also the family you meet along the way; That’s worth being grateful for.

As the end of the year approaches, check out our list of the best TV shows of 2024 and find other new movies to watch this month.