Planes, Trains and Automobiles

If you are after a comedy that actually makes you laugh out loud, Planes, Trains and Automobiles is available in Australia on BINGE and Foxtel Now, and in the US on Kanopy right now. It knows exactly what kind of film it is from the opening scene, and never loses that thread. 2,236 viewers have already rated it on TMDB — the kind of consensus that does not happen by accident. Steve Martin is the obvious draw, but the whole ensemble earns its laughs. Available now on BINGE — press play and find out why people keep recommending it.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles arrived without much fanfare and built its audience the hard way — through word of mouth. Planes, Trains and Automobiles does what great comedies rarely manage — it is actually funny, consistently, across the whole run. An irritable marketing executive, Neal Page, is heading home to Chicago for Thanksgiving when a number of delays force him to travel with a well meaning but overbearing shower curtain ring salesman, Del Griffith. Between them, Steve Martin and John Candy carry the comedy without ever forcing it. It hit screens in 1987. The timing in Planes, Trains and Automobiles is precise enough that even the throwaway lines land on a second watch. There is real craft here, even in the moments that do not fully land.

Comedy fans looking for a reliably funny watch will find it in Planes, Trains and Automobiles. It does not lean on comparisons to make its case. Best experienced as a single, sustained watch from start to finish. Steve Martin's comic timing carries it through its weaker moments. The kind of comedy you recommend to someone who claims they do not watch much.