Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Plot hole: After the car burns, and they arrive at the motel, Neal only has $17.00 on him and nothing but melted credit cards, forcing him to give up his watch to help pay for the room. Del only has $2.00 but his watch doesn't quite flip the bill. At this point, between Neal and Del, they only have $2.00. However, when Neal invites Del into the room, so he doesn't freeze to death, they are eating Doritos and drinking shooters. Even in 1987 Doritos and a bunch of shooters must have cost more than $2.00. This is assuming Del didn't already have them in his trunk. But even if he did, at the end, Neal gets on his train, makes a return trip to find Del just where he thought he'd be, and then they'd both have to get back onto that train. After all, they both showed up at Neal's home. Once again, It would take money to get on that train. Four train fares with only $2.00. Neal's first trip, return trip, and Neal with Del for the last trip = four fares.

DrLoomis1978

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Suggested correction: Del sold shower curtain rings for cash again; it just wasn't shown in the movie.

Continuity mistake: When John Candy is singing "The Mess Around" in the car, the car swerves, and a hubcap from the passenger side rolls off. The hubcap is back on in the next scene. (00:57:20 - 00:58:50)

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Del: You could kill a man like that, hitting him in the stomach. That's how Houdini died you know.

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Trivia: When Neal's wife is watching TV in bed, she is impossibly viewing the John Hughes film "She's Having a Baby," which didn't even premier in theaters until February of 1988, three months after "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" premiered in November 1987. John Hughes (who directed both films) used his own unreleased "She's Having A Baby" footage/soundtrack and a cameo by Kevin Bacon as teasers for the upcoming 1988 film. There's still some speculation that the plots of the two films actually intersect, and that Kevin Bacon (who is credited as the Taxi-Racer in "Planes, Trains and Automobiles") was playing his character, Jake, from "She's Having a Baby."

Charles Austin Miller

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Question: Why is Del even homeless? I know he's a widower but that alone couldn't explain why he's homeless unless it's supposed to be some sort of cryptic answer like he couldn't live in his house without his wife.

Rob245

Answer: He's not homeless, he has a house or an apartment somewhere, or lives out of hotels. He just no longer has a 'home', ie, a place where he's happy and someone loves him.

Brian Katcher

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