YMMV / Planes, Trains and Automobiles

• Accidental Aesop:
  • Whatever your frustrations in life, blowing up at people will only make your situation worse. While Neal had every right to be angry over not getting a car, unleashing a Cluster F-Bomb on the clerk and mocking the cab driver didn't do him any favors. Del, despite his frustrations, manages to get favors from people because he keeps a level head.
  • Your good intentions don't excuse careless or grotesque behavior. Del may mean well, but his slobbish behavior, reckless driving, and somewhat insensitive nature don't do him any favors with Neal either.
• Aluminum Christmas Trees: "The Canadian Mounted", the book Del is seen reading at the airport, was long assumed to have been a prop created as an Actor Allusion for John Candy. However, it is a real pornographic book that was published in 1981. New copies and replicas of it are currently available as the book is in the public domain.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Is Neal an arrogant, cold, and uptight man by nature, or did he just act that way because he was in a bad mood due to all of the misfortunes that he encountered during the course of the day? In the scenes where he thinks his troubles are over and he's going home (i.e., on the train), he seems pleasant enough and the scenes with his kids make it clear they adore him.
  • Del's wistful smile at the end. Is he happy that he's finally be able to be part of a family again after being alone for so long, or does the sight of Neal's own big, happy family and loving wife cause the reality of just how alone his is to finally dawn on him? A little of both?
  • More generally, is Del a good-natured, well-intentioned, happy-go-lucky slob, or is he a rather sleazy, manipulative, emotionally needy Stepford Smiler? His monologue to himself (and his absent wife) when sitting in the burned remains of the rental car in the motel parking lot suggests that he tries to be the first but is painfully aware that he's often the second. He also occasionally says things that sound cringily like he's deliberately attempting to manipulate Neal in order to use him - for example, suggesting that they finance the trip with their credit cards, then laments that the only one he has won't help (i.e., so we'll have to use yours).
• Awesome Music: Like all John Hughes movies, this one has an amazing soundtrack comprised entirely of hidden gems from the era, featuring everything from gothy New Wave Music ("Modigliani" by Book of Love when Del is sitting alone in the burnt up remains of the rental car) to hard rock ("I'll Show You Something Special" by Balaam & The Angel playing on the taxi driver's radio) to country music (Emmylou Harris's cover of "Back In Baby's Arms" in the infamous "Those aren't pillows!" scene) to stuff that defies genre (Silicone Teens' cover of "Red River Rock" as Del is driving the rental car and "Ba-Na-Na-Bam-Boo" by Westworld during the scene on the bus). Most famously is the instrumental version of "The Power to Believe" by Sophisti-Pop group Dream Academy, used to score Del's I Am What I Am speech and, later, becomes his leitmotif when Neal is riding the el train home and slowly realizes the truth about Del, keying in observant viewers that the story isn't over just yet and things are about to get much more serious. And of course, there's "I Can Take Anything" during Neal's Rage Breaking Point.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The sequence where they briefly appear as skeletons and then Del appears to Neal as the Devil. It's the only surreal fantasy sequence in the entire film, which otherwise (apart from its slapstick elements) stays pretty grounded in reality. It's actually a sort of hallucinatory version of Beneath the Mask, as Neal is imagining seeing Del as the horrible source of evil that Neal believes him to be.
• Genius Bonus:
  • Eagle-eyed viewers have pointed out that the car ride from St. Louis to Chicago is unusually long (Chicago is only a 5 hour drive from St. Louis, they should have been home by nightfall), the state trooper who pulls them over appears to be a Wisconsin state trooper based off his uniform and his car's livery as well as noting that they completed the final leg of the journey by hitchhiking in a dairy truck. Indeed, deleted scenes reveal that by the time the rental car gets impounded, Del had actually overshot Chicago by 100 miles and they were in the outskirts of Milwaukee.
  • If you have had an opportunity to read "The Canadian Mounted" (see Aluminum Christmas Trees above), the idea of Del casually reading it in public is even funnier. It contains some pretty graphic and grotesque content.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Del talking about what his legacy is going to be "when I'm dead and buried," given John Candy's early death. Ditto the final fade-out on his face.
  • In-universe, Neal's response to Del's above line.
    At the very least, the absolute minimum, you have a woman you love that you can grow old with.
  • In general, a lot of the foreshadowing with Del is meant to invoke this in-universe, to the point of serving as a Rewatch Bonus.
    Neal: I've been spending too much time away from home.
    Del: (casually) I haven't been home in years.
• Informed Wrongness: While Neal is an uptight jerk sometimes, his reaction to Del's recklessness and slovenly habits would be understandable to anyone who would have to deal with the same thing.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • Sure, Neal comes off as a bit of a dick at times especially when he snaps at both the rental agent and the taxi driver, but after all he goes through, including nearly being killed at least 3-4 different times, could you really blame him for reaching the breaking point?
  • Del counts, too. He takes advantage of Neal and seriously fucks up, including stealing from Neal and lighting the car on fire after nearly crashing and driving the wrong way down the highway.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • "THOSE AREN'T PILLOWS!"
  • "When you're telling a story, here's a good idea: have a point. It makes it so much more interesting for the listener!" "^Explanation This line has now become a popular use of criticism against pretentious films.
• Nausea Fuel:
  • Del clearing his sinuses; Del taking off his shoes and socks on the plane; Del leaving wet towels all over the floor. Played for Laughs, of course.
  • And that... scratching sound their first night in bed together. Whatever it is, eugh!
  • "Neal, take my socks out of the sink if you're going to brush your teeth, alright?"
  • Owen wiping tobacco spit from his mouth with his bare hand... just before he uses it to shake Neal's (Dylan Baker purposefully did that to get a genuine look of disgust from Steve Martin).
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • The Mood Whiplash from the "Mess Around" scene... to the cigarette landing in the backseat, accompanied by a legitimately ominous Scare Chord.
  • In the scene right after, where two people in another car try to warn Neal and Del that they're driving in the wrong direction, smoke is visibly rising from the back seat. Which they also don't notice.
  • And, of course, the scene where they drive in between the two trucks and Del briefly becomes the freakin' devil.
• One-Scene Wonder: Almost the entire cast, as only Steve Martin and John Candy are in more than three scenes. But in particular, Kevin Bacon, Dylan Baker, Michael McKean, and Edie McClurg (she of the Cluster F-Bomb).
• Signature Scene:
  • Neal unloading three days worth of frustration onto the car rental clerk and using every conceivable variation of the word "fuck" in the process.
  • Another: "Those aren't pillows!"
  • Del's "Real Article" speech.
• Song Association:
  • Today, nobody can listen to "Mess Around" by Ray Charles without picturing Del being a Large Ham.
  • Try listening to the opening of Patsy Cline's "Back in Baby's Arms" without picturing Del and Neal snuggled up in the hotel bed.
• Squick: Plenty of moments, all having to do with Del's slovenly hygiene:
  • The bathroom at the Braidwood Inn looks downright toxic, with Del's smelly socks stewing in the sink.
  • Del clearing his sinuses. Ew.
  • Neal, accidentally using Del's recently-removed underwear as a face towel is easily the grossest moment of all.
• Suspiciously Similar Song: The pizzicato piece that plays during the motel bathroom scene is similar-sounding to the Johann Strauss piece "Pizzicato Polka".
• Unintentional Period Piece:
  • Neal's Cluster F-Bomb includes a demand for a Datsun. Just a couple years earlier Nissan had ditched the "Datsun" name in North America and began marketing their cars under their own name, and a lot of their marketing at the time reflected this. (Indeed, Nissan's slogan in 1987 was, "The Name is Nissan!")
  • Several scenes depict characters smoking inside places of business (restaurants, hotels) and on a bus, both of which would become illegal in 1998. The airplane scene manages to avoid this by clearly showing Del chewing gum (rather noisily, as per his character) during the flight.
  • Multiple now-defunct airlines are seen and/or mentioned throughout the movie: Multiple USAir planes are seen parked at O'Hare during the blizzard, Del mentions he has a friend who works for Eastern, Multiple TWA planes are seen as Neal hitchhikes back to the St. Louis airport after being stranded at the rental car lot, and an America West advertisement can be seen at the train platform Del drops Neal off at near the end.
  • Characters are seen using payphones and corded telephones throughout the film. Had this film been set in modern day, Neal and Del would of easily avoided nearly all of the film's hijinks, by using a smartphone!
• The Woobie: Del, once it's revealed that Marie has been dead for eight years and he's been homeless ever since.

---