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Movies are a big part of my life. When I was the movie reviewer for The sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Tribune from the late 鈥�70s into the mid 鈥�80s, I鈥檇 see two to four films a week.

Ask me what my favorite movies are, and my response will vary, depending on what day of the month it is.

But the list usually includes 鈥淭he Searchers,鈥� a 1956 John Ford Western starring John Wayne; 鈥淭he Godfather鈥� (1972); 鈥淛aws鈥� (1975); Quentin Tarantino鈥檚 鈥淥nce Upon a Time in Hollywood鈥� (2019); and 鈥淥ld Yeller鈥� (1957), which I saw when I was 9.

Guilty pleasure? That would be 鈥淧redator,鈥� a 1987 science fiction/action movie set in the jungles of South America and starring two future governors 鈥� Arnold Schwarzenegger (California, 2003-2011) and Jesse Ventura (Minnesota, 1999-2003).

These movies reward me on some level every time I watch them.

But there is only one movie that remains as fresh today as the first time I saw it 36 years ago. It鈥檚 a movie I have trouble talking about. I鈥檒l be laughing so hard recounting some scenes, I can scarcely utter an intelligible sentence. And when I try to describe its climax, I can鈥檛 get a word over the lump in my throat.

It鈥檚 a movie that says Thanksgiving to me as plainly as turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce and Dallas Cowboys football.

No turkey: Here's a movie that keeps on giving

鈥楯ust perfect鈥�I saw 鈥淧lanes, Trains and Automobiles鈥� with my younger brother, Rick, in 1987, at a four-screen theater in our hometown of Natchez, Mississippi. The movie opened the day before Thanksgiving that year and ran for 12 weeks in American theaters.

Rick and I were still in our 30s in 1987. (I鈥檒l spare you the math. We鈥檙e both in our 70s now) He was working as a graphic designer for a Natchez business, and I was a reporter for The sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Tribune. I traveled to Natchez for the holidays that year, although we can鈥檛 recall now if it were the Thanksgiving or Christmas holidays. Doesn鈥檛 matter.

My brother and I found ourselves with a few free hours one afternoon and decided to see this movie, written and directed by John Hughes and starring Steve Martin and John Candy.

Rick had been a Steve Martin fan since Martin鈥檚 standup comedy days, and I had reviewed and admired earlier movies directed and/or written by Hughes. Even so, we were not prepared for the experience we had that afternoon at the four-plex or the lasting effect 鈥淧lanes, Trains and Automobiles鈥� has had on us.

鈥淚 watch it usually right before Thanksgiving, and I watch it in July,鈥� Rick told me on the phone recently. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a classic, and the ending is so touching. It鈥檚 just perfect. I don鈥檛 see what I would change in it. That鈥檚 why I can watch it over and over.鈥�

Odd coupleThe movie is about Neal Page (Martin), an advertising executive who is on a business trip in New York City and is desperate to get home to his family in Chicago to celebrate Thanksgiving. Everything that can possibly go bad does, including diverted flights, canceled flights, airport rental cars that aren鈥檛 where they are supposed to be.

Part of what makes this movie work is that most people can identify with wrecked travel plans. It鈥檚 hilarious in the movie because it鈥檚 happening to somebody else and not you.

鈥淲hat me, the eternal pessimist, liked was all the things that kept going wrong,鈥� Rick told me. 鈥淚t made me feel that maybe some people have it worse than me. Everybody has been in a bad situation in an airport at one time or the other. Remember that time you were flying from sa国际传媒官网网页入口 to Baton Rouge and got stuck in Dallas.鈥�

Circumstance pairs Neal with Del Griffith (Candy), a gregarious shower curtain ring salesman who is as rumpled and disheveled as Neal is preppy and put-together. The odd-couple element is at the core of the film and is a near-constant source of frustration for Neal, who can鈥檛 stand to be with Del but somehow can鈥檛 manage without him. It鈥檚 Del that secures the ride 鈥� in the refrigerated trailer of a semi 鈥� that finally gets them to Chicago.

Over the years, Rick and I have enjoyed reliving our favorite parts of the movie during long-distance phone calls. It never fails to boost our spirits.

For example, there鈥檚 the motel scene in which Neal is showering in a bathroom that Del has pretty much trashed with his sloppy habits. Neal is starting to relax as the hot water melts the tension from his body. But then the water just stops, leaving Neal blinded by the soap in his eyes and groping for a towel. The only thing he can find that Del has left unsoiled is a facecloth.

Rick admires the music in that scene.

鈥淚t鈥檚 only fingers on a keyboard, but it鈥檚 just right,鈥� he said.

Music adds a lot to the movie. Emmylou Harris鈥� version of 鈥淏ack in Baby鈥檚 Arms鈥� kicks up the comedy like no other song could in an awkward bit in which the men wake up in a motel bed they have had to share.

And there鈥檚 Del at the wheel of a car, hurtling along a freeway at nighttime, playing imaginary piano keys on the dashboard in accompaniment to Ray Charles singing 鈥淢ess Around鈥� on the car radio. That ends disastrously when Del gets turned around, drives the wrong direction on the highway, and nearly gets himself and Neal killed.

In one of my favorite scenes, the two men are sitting on Del鈥檚 trunk on the side of the freeway, facing away from their battered vehicle, when a cigarette Del has dropped sets the car ablaze.

One at a time, the men turn around to look at the burning car and then face forward again without changing expression. Then they look at each other, stand in unison, and turn to stare at the flaming hulk. Not a word is said, but that segment speaks volumes. Laurel and Hardy would have been proud.

Making roomA few years ago, Rick and I were setting out on road trip from his home near Birmingham, Alabama. He casually slipped a disc into the CD player before he pulled away from his house. It was Ray Charles singing 鈥淢ess Around.鈥� I nearly busted a gut. My brother just smiled. Neither of us had to say a thing.

For all the wild and crazy and very funny misadventures in 鈥淧lanes, Trains and Automobiles,鈥� it is the poignant punch at the end that seals the deal on this movie.

What the film is really about is getting to know people who are not like you. It鈥檚 about caring for people who are less fortunate than you, making room for them in your heart and at your table.

I appreciate that. I have lived a thousand miles from my hometown for 47 years, and for most of those years I have spent Thanksgiving here, far from family. But I have always been welcomed into someone鈥檚 home to celebrate the day. This year, I will be with friends I have known since my first weeks in sa国际传媒官网网页入口.

鈥淧lanes, Trains and Automobiles鈥� usually shows on TV on Thanksgiving Day or in the days leading up to it. If you want to see it on the big screen, the Jean Cocteau Cinema in Santa Fe will show five screenings Friday, Nov. 24, through Sunday Nov. 26. And it is also streaming on Paramount+, Showtime, Prime Video and Pluto TV. Check it out if you have never seen it, or if, like me, you never get tired of seeing it.