Someone on Facebook recently posted this map they found on Wikipedia detailing the travels of Neil Page and Dale Griffith in the movie Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. It shows their intended route, and also all of the way they navigated the miles from where they ended up back to Chicago.
Now I spent over a decade traveling this great country of ours, and within that experience lies one of my biggest pet peeves with the movie. The lines that represent their journey by rental car and milk truck encompass quite a bit of time. In the movie, Dale Griffith picks up Neil at the airport in St. Louis in the rental car in the afternoon. They then go on to have their incident on interstate where they are going the wrong way and almost die. From there they spend the night in a motel, travel more by car the next day until they get pulled over, and then ride in the back of the milk truck the rest of the way home.
I understand the need to stretch the movie and incorporate more wacky adventures, but in reality, the trip from the airport in St. Louis to Chicago is less than a five-hour drive. Realistically, after leaving the airport they should have been able to drive straight through and be home that night.
Even if they got derailed by their mishap on the interstate, there still shouldn’t have been a need to spend another night in a motel together. Since their car was still drivable, they could have continued limping home. Maybe Neil really didn’t want to get home as badly as he was putting on during the movie.
On one of my trips years ago, I was in Florida on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving…thirteen hours from home. I left there around 6 pm and was pulling in at home as the sun was coming up the next morning. I bet you six bucks and my right nut that none of their problems would have kept me from getting back as quickly as possible.
I’ll have to check the DVD, but I believe they also got pulled over by a Wisconsin State Trooper… which means they went past Chicago before spending the night in a motel and limping toward home the next day. I suppose they really did go “the wrong way” down the highway.
The extra scenes on the recent Blu-ray showed a cheating storyline between Neil and his wife was cut. The two were supposed to be fighting all the time because he (I think) had once cheated, and now she doesn’t trust him when he travels. It’s why she’s so cold throughout the movie, but it could also be why Neil doesn’t want to go home so fast.
As a fellow road warrior, I would have to agree with you. Very little could stop me from getting home in time for a big holiday. I’ve flown 10 hours and driven 6 before just to get home. I’d have thrown a bus and a train in there if I needed!