Due Date and Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Comedic films with the characters on the road are always entertaining, especially in “Due Date” and “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.” In these films there’s always something unexpected about to happen. Although there only seems to be similarities between these films, there are also many differences.
The most obvious similarity is that in both films, the characters are literally on the road to find their way home. Returning to family is the key objective to both businessmen (Robert Downey Jr. and Steve Martin). To these two characters, family is everything at the moment. They both have very unlikely pairs stuck together as well. The nicer person, who is always willing to help and give a ride (Zach Galifianakis and John Candy), are also the ones causing the most problems on the road. Candy’s and Galifianakis’s characters had someone close to them pass away, which affects how they are as individuals; Candy’s character lost his wife and Galifianakis’s character lost his father. Also, both the Downey and Martin characters have a sense of being “above” the Galifianakis and Candy characters. The road is always worse for these characters since they’re tight, businessmen with higher standards; people that are high in power usually have a hard time adjusting to living with little or no money, and not having everything going their way.
The main difference between these films is with the characters of Zach Galifianakis and John Candy. In “Due Date,” from the beginning of their journey the audience knows that he’s planning on going to Hollywood to become an actor. In “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles,” the audience doesn’t really know why he’s on the road until the very end. I think the audience knowing in the beginning worked better because you know the character has a reason for going on this crazy journey. Another thing is that with Steve Martin and John Candy, most of the problems happen to the characters. For example, how the train breaks down, the weather prevented them to arrive in Chicago, and how they were robbed of their cash. Whereas in “Due Date,” basically all of the problems happened because of the characters, like when Galifianakis’s character falls asleep at the wheel, and when Downey picks a fight with a man in a wheelchair.
Both “Due Date” and “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” are good films with similar characters. Their situations are different, but all funny.