Favorite Movie #97 - Holiday Edition: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles & Only the Lonely

Favorite movies that have had an impact on me - #96 - Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987) & Only the Lonely (1991) - I really love these two John Candy films, which not only showcase his comedic talent, but how effecting he could be emotionally, too. In John Hughes's Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, one of the all-time greatest road pictures, he is the thorn on Steve Martin's side as the two try to make it home for Thanksgiving. There are many memorable moments — especially "Those aren't pillows!" Martin and Candy are great together, and Hughes takes his typical Chicago affluent suburb setting and character played by Martin and lets Candy disrupt him for both big comedic and emotional payoffs.


In Only the Lonely (produced by Hughes and again set in Chicago, but written and directed by Chris Columbus) Candy is a policeman who is torn between his loyalty to his overbearing mother (played by an amazing Maureen O'Hara) and a blossoming romance with a funeral home worker (Ally Sheedy). You really feel for Candy as he struggles to break away from his tough-as-nails mom and maybe, finally, live his own life. He and the film are truly wonderful.


Link to Christmas: The movies takes place during the holiday season