I know this might be an unpopular opinion, but Planes Trains and Automobiles isn't as great as I remember. It's not a bad movie, but I could edit out 50% of the movie and it would flow much better. Its just so slow and has a ton of unnecessary time devoted to scenes, which is common in the pre-digital era of filmmaking.
It was a fine movie, but it could have been a great 45 minute short film.
@DanIsWriting I actually agree with you. I like the movie a lot and some scenes are really hilarious and fantastic, but a lot of it feels drawn out to me as well in between those moments.
@natharari exactly. If there were more antics thrown in these dull moments, maybe something to better explain Steve's charaters lack of compassion towards strangers, would have gone a long way to pick up the pace. The emotional connection depends heavily on John Candys character, which I feel gets most of the writing focus for charater development.
@natharari agreed. I actually thing there was a perfect amount of drama, which I think provides the emotional connection everyone like about the movie. It was unexpectedly dark at times and made you see Joh Candys character as a real living person with a lot of flaws. More antics would have balanced it better as a comedy and punched up the speed.
@DanIsWriting I agree completely. I wouldn't want more dramatic moments, however - just more comedy for the slow times.