There’s no easy way to segue into this point, so I’m just going to come right out and say it: Planes, Trains and Automobiles is overrated. That’s certainly not to say that it’s a bad movie, I just don’t think it’s an all-time comedy classic. There’s a lot to like in this movie, but parts of it really haven’t aged all that well.

Take the score, for example. I know that electronic music was all the rage back in the ’80s, but it’s just atrocious here. Not a single note of it works within the context of what’s supposed to be a heartwarming buddy comedy on the road. It’s a jarring disconnect, which makes the score terribly composed as well as extremely dated. Though to be fair, there are quite a few times when the score is good enough to fall back on tried and true orchestral sounds. And it still sucks.

But really, that’s just window dressing. The crux of the movie is of course Neal Page (Steve Martin), Del Griffith (John Candy), and their shared journey. Unfortunately, the film presents these characters’ developments in ways that just don’t make sense to me.

For those who haven’t seen the movie, let me back up. Neal is a marketing exec who works in New York, though his wife and kids live in Chicago for whatever reason. He’s trying to get from work to home in time for Thanksgiving — which is two days away — though of course the flight doesn’t go as expected. Along the way, Neal meets up with Del, and they’re forced into traveling together through a series of comedic circumstances.

Now, the main thrust of Neal’s development is that he’s supposed to be this uptight and self-absorbed jerk who learns how to mellow out. The movie kept telling me this, and I kept on not buying it. First of all, anyone who sacrifices this much time, money, and mental health to be with his family for the holidays does not deserve to be considered a selfish prick. Secondly, I’ll grant that he’s on a short fuse, but anyone would be in circumstances like his. I should think that after getting held up at a meeting for no apparent reason, getting a cab stolen — twice! — just to rush to a flight that’s been delayed anyway, Neal would have earned the right to be a little cranky. And his circumstances don’t get any better from there.

The rental car incident is another great case in point. The sole reason why this movie earned an R rating is because of the lengthy tirade in which Neal curses up a blue streak at a car rental agent. The movie seems to side with the agent, portraying Neal as some deranged madman. I can see how that might make sense for someone standing in line behind him, but this doesn’t make a lick of sense for someone who knows the context as we do. Neal just paid who knows how many dollars to rent a car and be shuttled out to the lot, only to find that the car doesn’t exist. But the shuttle bus has already left, so Neal has to trudge through three miles of snow, dirt, and airport runway just to file a complaint. A man would have to have the patience of a saint not to drop a few F-bombs in that scenario.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that so much of this movie’s humor is derived from Neal’s heightened reactions to what’s going on around him. Unfortunately, the comedy in this situation is dampened because most of Neal’s reactions are entirely justified. The character isn’t nearly enough of an asshole to deserve all this suffering, and suffering isn’t nearly as funny when it’s happening to someone who doesn’t deserve it.

(Side note: Yes, I realize that What’s Up, Doc? did something very similar with the character of Howard Bannister, but his reactions to all of his undeserved suffering were far more witty and fast-paced than anything seen here. There was also a pathetic, defeated sort of tone to his situation, which made it all the funnier. [Judy: “I’m afraid my Howard is too modest to tell you the story himself. It all started when we passed the point of no return.” Howard: “I think we just passed it.”] I must remember to write up an entry on that film sometime. But I digress.)

Next up is Del, who’s presented as an unending font of bad luck for Neal and the source of all his misery. Except that isn’t entirely true. Del quickly proves himself to be an indispensable companion, since he’s a traveling salesman with a wide variety of connections to provide travel and lodging at a moment’s notice. What’s more, his skills and inventory as a salesman come in very handy at a crucial time when the two of them find all their cash missing.

As for the bad luck part, Neal’s journey is beset by terrible streaks of misfortune that Del had absolutely nothing to do with. Even if Del did steal his cab at the outset, the flight was just delayed anyway for reasons that had nothing to do with Del. The airports in Chicago were all shut down for reasons that Del had nothing to do with. He and Neal were robbed for reasons that Del had nothing to do with. Their train broke down for reasons that Del had nothing to do with. Neal and Del’s rental car broke down for… well, okay, that whole series of mistakes was 100% Del’s fault. But still.

The screenplay itself is decent, but it really falls apart in the third act. The climax is basically just a series of clips from previously in the movie, which strikes me as extremely lazy. As a final note on the screenplay, I’d like to note that there’s a scene in which an uncomfortable situation leads to Del and Neal asserting their heterosexual status. Maybe it’s just me, but I think that the whole “Three’s Company”-esque humor regarding sexuality misunderstandings is outdated. If we as a society haven’t already outgrown homophobia as humor, then we really need to start working on that.

Still, for all my complaints about this film, there are two saving graces. First of them is obviously the writer/director. John Hughes was at the top of his game when he made this, and nobody could develop characters to warm the heart and tickle the funny bone like Hughes could. For all my gripes about the development of our leads, there’s no denying that they were both constructed with a great amount of sincerity and heart.

This brings me to the second reason why this movie works: The cast. Every single character in this film is expertly cast. Even the ones who only show up for a single brief scene are played by such actors as Kevin Bacon, Michael McKean, Dylan Baker, Larry Hankin, Edie McClurg, and Ben Stein, and all of them give outstanding comedic performances.

Still, the stars of this film are of course Steve Martin and John Candy. These are two legendary comedians and they are each given ample opportunity to show what talent they have. Martin flexes his muscles as a gifted put-down joker, and Candy is nicely lovable as a bumbling idiot. Not only are these actors both outstanding screwball comics, but their chemistry together is great to watch. They have a lot of funny scenes together, and quite a few heartwarming scenes as well.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles is a good film that’s worth seeing, though definitely with tempered expectations. Several jokes don’t quite work, and a lot of the humor works (or doesn’t work) in ways that the filmmakers may not have intended. Also, the third act is sloppy and the score is a disaster from start to finish. Steve Martin, John Candy, and John Hughes all turn in very good work, though it certainly isn’t the best movie on any of their respective filmographies. That said, even when ’80s-era Martin, Candy, and Hughes were at their worst, they were still much better than most of their peers at their best.