Free Download: Why the Script Works – PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES

Free Download: Why the Script Works - Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Why has the late John Hughes’s Planes, Trains & Automobiles stood the test of time — not just as one of the best holiday movies, but as a near-perfect character study full of both comedy and drama? // The film was one of Hughes’s last great accomplishments pulling triple duty as writer, director, and producer. After a string of 1980s youth classics like Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Hughes decided to turn his storytelling away from high school characters and focus on middle-aged adults. It would also mark his first of many holiday-based screenplays, preceding his other notable holiday season installments National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Home Alone, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, and the remake of Miracle on 34th Street. // The screenplay for Planes, Trains & Automobiles encapsulates nearly everything that makes for a great holiday film — holiday themes of thankfulness and forgiveness, spirited atmosphere, lessons learned, and of course, plenty of conflict for the characters to overcome within those script elements. // That’s why, to this day, the script still resonates with audiences — especially during the holidays. But beyond the context of holiday movies, here is a breakdown of how and why this script is still so appealing to so many people.