Two days before Thanksgiving, while in New York City, advertising executive Neal Page is still at work. He mouths to his boss that he has a plane to catch. Shortly after, he and the other staff are dismissed.

He tries to hail a cab but has no luck since other people got them first. Then, after he puts his suitcase in the trunk of a taxi, it drives off. Neal chases it on foot. Once he gets to a stop, he bribes the passenger to let him ride. But it doesn’t work.

Later, Neal is at LaGuardia Airport. He is going to go home to his family in Chicago. Unfortunately, the flight is delayed. So, Neal has to wait a while.

While waiting, he meets this guy, Del Griffith, who is talkative and enthusiastic. He also happens to be the guy that took Neal’s cab. Neal, whose personality is pretty much the opposite of Del’s, is not happy. Del offers to make it up to him and buy him something. But Neal refuses the offer.

Once Neal is boarding his flight, the flight attendant won’t let him sit in the first-class section, despite what his ticket says. He is forced to sit in the coach area. And he is next to Del Griffith, once again.

Due to the snowstorm in Chicago, the plane is rerouted to Wichita, Kansas. Del and Neal are now stranded. Luckily, though, they find a hotel. However, they end up booking the same room, which only has one bed. So, the two need to share it.

While under the covers, Del makes strange sounds and movements, possibly due to sleep apnea. But it gets to the point where Neal is annoyed. He puts Del down for those things as well as his other traits.

Once the two go back to sleep, however, a thief uses something to enter their room. Then he takes out all the money from Neal’s wallet.

The next day, when Neal and Del are eating breakfast, Neal notices that there is no cash in his wallet. He accuses Del of stealing. But Del states that he didn’t touch the money. Neal realizes that he was robbed.

Still desperate to get home to Chicago, Neal manages to purchase train tickets for both him and Del, but for separate compartments. Sadly, the train breaks down. All the passengers are now stranded in a field.

Lucky for Neal and Del, they catch a bus to St. Louis, Missouri. Once they are having a meal together, though, Neal tells Del that he wants to go his separate way. This upsets Del.

Some time later, Neal rents a car—only for it to go missing when he comes back to it. He ends up walking through a highway, which includes a hill and other obstacles.

When he gets to the car rental place, he is rude to the bubbly lady behind the desk. He tells her about his situation and demands a car. But she is unable to offer him one. He continues to be obnoxious to the point where the woman punches him in the face.

Despite what he went through, Neal is lucky when Del shows up in a rental car. But he almost runs him over. So, a creepy man standing by lifts him, but not in a good way.

The two drive on the highway. Del decides to light a cigarette and smoke. When he finishes, he throws it into the back seat.

At some point, the two have to turn around—except that they are going the wrong way. Two drivers even tell them. But Del dismisses them and assumes that they are drunk.

However, two trucks come heading toward them. Neal and Del narrowly go in between them, but still have some damage.

Not long after, the car is on fire thanks to the cigarette. Del and Neal laugh when that happens—except that Neal’s credit cards were in the vehicle. So, he has no money whatsoever.

Will he be able to return home for Thanksgiving?

I am surprised with how much this movie made me laugh. The chase scenes and moments when the characters acted crazy were some of them.

There was also the singing of the Flintstones theme song from all the passengers on the bus to St. Louis. That was funny.

The character development was strong, too. I found the “friendship” between Del and Neal amusing, especially since they had opposite personalities. I liked how they constantly ended up being with each other and formed a duo, even if they didn’t intend to.

Even the minor characters were memorable. For example, when Neal’s wife called him, she was shocked that he shared a hotel room with a stranger. She asked, “Are you crazy?” That was quite credible as any spouse would be concerned about that.

The pacing was neither too fast, nor too slow. The scenes were long, but they showed everything that was necessary. And this movie is only around an hour and a half long.

I will also admit that some parts were a little bit gross. For instance, while in the hotel room during their first night in Wichita, Del and Neal had their stuff everywhere. There were even socks in the sink in unappealing water.

Yet this movie is rated R, so they can get away with parts like that. It also has foul language, including multiple uses of the F-word.

Like with any good film, this one had lots of twists and turns. See the movie to find out what they are.

Overall, I enjoyed Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. It was funny with a comic relief duo.

I give this film 4 out of 5 stars.