November 25, 1987: The film Planes, Trains and Automobiles premieres. It is the 1st "grownup" film directed by John Hughes, heretofore known as the director of teenage-themed films like The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Emblematic of this is Kevin Bacon playing a character who is not only an adult, but established enough to have a job in Midtown Manhattan.
However, his is only a minor character, without having any lines, or even a name: He is listed in the credits only as "Taxi Racer." Ask yourself this: If you were in Midtown Manhattan at rush hour, what would you rather have: A line in a movie, a name, or a taxi? Bacon's character gets a taxi.
Steve Martin plays Neal Page, an advertising executive who lives in the Chicago suburbs. A business trip to New York proves to be a waste of time, so he's already annoyed when the movie begins. It's 2 days before Thanksgiving, and that day and the next are the 2 busiest travel days of the year. So he did what looked like the smart thing, and reserved a first class flight to Chicago months in advance.
He has trouble getting a taxi, and, when he thinks he's got one, it gets stolen from him. He finally gets to La Guardia Airport 2 minutes before his plane is scheduled to take off -- and it's delayed. And he comes face-to-face with the man who stole the cab: Del Griffith, a salesman of shower-curtain rings, also from Chicago. Del apologizes profusely, and wants to make it up to Neal, who just wants to be left alone.
But Neal gets bumped out of first class into coach, and has to sit next to Del, who makes a nuisance of himself. A blizzard closes down Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, and the plane gets diverted to Wichita, Kansas. The 1st thing Del does is call for a hotel room. The 1st thing Neal does is call his wife, to explain the situation. When he's done, there are no more hotel rooms to be had, so Del offers to share his.
A burglar breaks into their motel room in the middle of the night, but only steals their cash, not their credit cards. Del gets them a frigid ride to the nearest train station, 40 miles away, and a train is available. (Amtrak didn't want their name used. Nor did the freight company Conrail. So, for the movie, the train is labeled "Contrack.")
But the train breaks down outside Jefferson City, Missouri. Everyone -- including Del, who's lugging a big trunk, and Neal helps him with it -- has to walk a mile and a half into town and catch a bus. But because of holiday bookups, the furthest tickets available are into St. Louis.
Once there, Del makes some spare cash by conning some travelers into thinking his shower-curtain rings are expensive earrings that he's selling cheap, like a knockoff seller on a city street. He splits the profits with Neal. They have lunch, and Neal tells Del that he's missing his daughter's school Thanksgiving pageant. He says, "I've been spending too much time away from home." Del says, "I haven't been home in years." Neal asks him if he's serious, but Del tells him it's just an expression.
They still have to get to Chicago. Neal suggests that it would be easier if they split up. After all, one ticket or reservation for anything is easier to get than two.
Knowing that the planes are still backed up, and no train or bus seats are available, Neal rents a car at St. Louis' Lambert International Airport. But when the rental company's bus drops him off at the parking spot, there's no car there, just a set of skidmarks. And the bus leaves without him. He has to walk back to the terminal, across a runway. His exchange with the rental company's clerk, played by Edie McClurg, is the reason the film is rated R: The word "fuck" and its variations are used 18 times.
With no other apparent choice, Neal asks a taxi dispatcher to get him a cab to take him to Chicago. The dispatcher tries to be funny about it. Neal doesn't handle it well, and insults him, getting punched out. Del arrives and saves him, and offers him a ride the rest of the way -- in what's never said to be, but the viewer is led to believe is, the car that Neal had rented.
You see, their credit cards had gotten mixed up. Del didn't tell Neal that. He also didn't tell Neal, until it was too late, that he'd switched the cards back. Neal puts his wallet in the car's glove compartment. Del smokes, and tried to throw his cigarette out the window, but he hadn't opened the window wide enough, and the cigarette bounces into the back seat.
There's a close call with a pair of semi-tractor-trailers, resulting in Del's trunk, which he had tied to the back since it couldn't fit in the car's trunk, flying off and landing in the middle of Interstate 55, still 102 miles from Chicago according to a sign. After they retrieve the trunk, pull it over to the shoulder, and sit on it to rest, the car bursts into flames. Neal asks Del how he could have rented the car. Del tells him what happened, and Neal knows his wallet is burned and his cards are useless. He punches Del in the stomach.
They wait for the fire to go out, and somehow manage to get the car to the nearest motel. His cards useless, and the price $42.50, Neal gets a room by giving the desk clerk $17 and his "hell of a nice watch," and tells Del to get his own room. Del has only $2.00 left, and a cheap watch, which the clerk refuses. Del goes out to sleep in the burned-out hull of the car. It starts to snow. Neal remembers that, uptight as he is, he's not without a heart, and invites Del in. Their ordeal is still not over, but they're laughing about it already.
They start out the next morning, and the car's gauges are non-functional, so they don't know how fast they're going. They get pulled over by a State Trooper, who tells them they were going 78 miles per hour, and that the car is unsafe for highway travel and must be impounded. Now, they're down to the last few hours.
Del finds a truck driver who's delivering milk to Chicago, and gets himself and Neal a free ride. They finally get back to Chicago, and part company at an elevated station. Neal admits he's a little wiser for the experience. It's an old story about two people who needed each other: Neal needed to loosen up a little, and Del needed to grow up a little.
As Neal rides his train back to his suburb, he thinks about the trip, and thinks about his wife and his family. And then he remembers Del referencing his own wife. And then he remembers Del's line, "I haven't been home in years." And it occurs to him: Del went out of his way to get Neal home, but never said anything about getting himself home.
On a hunch, Neal gets off the train, switches sides, and heads back to the station where he first got on. Del is still there, and Neal asks him why he hasn't gone home. He admits the awful truth: "I don't have a home, Neal. Marie's been dead for eight years." Left unspoken, but implied, is the fact that Del could no longer live in their house alone, and has been on the road ever since, living out of motels. Since Del never mentioned any kids, or any other family members, he has no one to stay with, and no one to have Thanksgiving dinner with. He is all alone in the world.
So Neal does the decent thing, and takes Del home for Thanksgiving dinner with the Page family. The part that always gets me is seeing Neal and his wife Susan (played by Laila Robbins) reunited, while Del smiles, remembering Marie. He's taken off his right glove, but he's still wearing his left, covering up the wedding ring he couldn't bear to take off. But, on this Thanksgiving, he's with people who care about him, even if they'd just met.
John Candy died in 1994, John Hughes in 2009, both from heart attacks. As of November 25, 2022, Steve Martin is still alive. I suppose a sequel could be made, with one of Neal's kids (he had 2 sons and a daughter) growing up, getting married, and having a child named Del -- or Marie -- that he (or she) has to get home to, and having to get help from a character like Del.
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November 25, 1987 was a Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 7 games played in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 104-101 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.
* The Boston Celtics beat the Atlanta Hawks, 117-102 at the Boston Garden.
* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Detroit Pistons, 113-107 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.
* The Indiana Pacers beat the San Antonio Spurs, 133-102 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.
* The Chicago Bulls beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 103-101 at the Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, or "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena. Michael Jordan led all scorers on the night with 33 points.
* The Houston Rockets beat the Phoenix Suns, 109-103 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.
* And the Washington Bullets beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 101-96 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
And there were 10 games played in the NHL:
* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-3 at Madison Square Garden.
* The New Jersey Devils beat the Edmonton Oilers, 8-7 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton. Aaron Broten's 2nd goal of the game won it, just 13 seconds into overtime. He also had 3 assists. Doug Sulliman also had 2 goals for the Devils. Are we still "a Mickey Mouse organization," Wayne Gretzky? For the Oilers, Gretzky had a goal and 3 assists. So did Mark Messier.
* The New York Islanders were the only team in the League that was not scheduled.
* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Hartford Whalers, 6-5 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).
* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Buffalo Sabres, 5-2 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.
* The Washington Capitals beat the Boston Bruins, 4-1 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.
* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Quebec Nordiques, 6-4 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.
* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Winnipeg Jets, 10-8 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Petr Klima and Brent Ashton each had 2 goals for the Wings. Paul MacLean had 3 goals for the Jets.
* The St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota North Stars, 4-3 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Rick Meagher won the game with a goal with 3:41 left in overtime.
* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 6-4 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.
* And the Calgary Flames beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-2 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.
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