I still use “clear as a bell, Officer!” all the time- from when they get pulled over after the car has been practically torn to pieces.
I’ve always wondered if it was an effect of some sort, or an odd talent of Steve Martin’s, but in the scene where he gets punched in the face, he sort of tilts his head back a bit and his eyelids flutter open and closed rapidly. (<— a bad description of a funny shot.) At any rate, it’s pretty funny.
You guys are making me want to watch the movie again,
“Name’s Owen.”
snerrrkkKkereeghgkKKKKKKKKKKKKK
EEW.
Heh, I moved here when I was 23. I grew up here. That’s more Iowa than Chicago.
Yeah, that was a priceless scene.
“What do they want?”
“They say we’re going the wrong way.”
“Oh, they’re drunk. How do they know where we’re going?”
"“Yeah, how do they know where we’re going?”
Second this! My favorite line in the whole movie.
Look pal, if I wanted a joke, I would follow you in the john and watch you take a leak!
This film shows me for being a pessimist.
I told a friend that the end of the film could be seen in a very negative light. And it could have been taken very much the wrong way by John Candy’s character…
Neil’s thought process: “I’ve recently found out that he’s a widower, he’s got a shitty job, no house, no kids. I know, I’ll show him my huge house, great kids, and attractive wife. So I’ll parade all the things I have and he doesn’t have”
I saw this film in Northern Wisconsin with my Dad in 1987. I was 12. It was when we first lived in America. Dad had to travel all over to these small towns for work and I got a glimpse just how tough it was on him. I loved the movie and tied it in to my experiences driving around with my Father.
It was a very funny movie with all too common human elemnts mixed in. The moment Martin realizes that Del is alone is a classic moment for me.
My family are back in Ireland now but I just had a nice chat with Dad about the movie and about what it meant to both of us.
Thanks John Hughes.
My Dad raised that point as well but he felt that the welcome that they gave Del showed that it wasn’t gloating by Neill but a genuine effort to connect to Del (also, Neill finally realized just how lucky he was).
I love shouting “you’re going the wrong way!” in all sorts of applicable situations.
I’m fairly sure that this will place me firmly in the “get off my lawn!” old man camp (at the ripe age of 29), but I agree. This and Only The Lonely (John Candy’s best film) are two examples of comedy with normal, redeemable protagonists. A big part of why many modern comedies fail for me is that I don’t really ever feel like I know any of the protagonists in real life; they’re artificial constructs created to generate laughs.
That moment is a classic for me too. The music is perfect (the music throughout the film is perfect).
other memorable moments…
The slow head turn when the car is on fire.
“Those aren’t pillows!”
The conversation with the car-rental clerk.
The look on Kevin Bacon’s face when both of them realize they’ve just seen each other’s intentions about the taxi.
The film.
There have been no actors like Steve Martin and John Candy with the talent and the chemistry to pull anything like this off ever since. That is what made this movie great.
And Candy’s whole speech about how his wife loves him and his customers love him; damn, that broke my heart and I really felt for the guy. I’ve never seen a movie moment that made me empathize with a person like that.
Also Neil had been quite nasty to/about him for quite a long speech. I’ve not see someone be so cruel as that using words in a film.
You’re not a very tolerant person.
You’ve bugged me since New York,
starting with stealing my cab.
God, you’re a tight-ass.
How would you like a mouthful of teeth?
Oh, and hostile, too.
Nice personality combination–
hostile and intolerant.
That’s borderline criminal.
Screw you.
You spilled beer all over the bed,
you mess up the bathroom…
Who let you stay?
I even let you pay,
so you wouldn’t feel like an intruder.
An intruder?
Right. You ruined a nice trip.
Who talked my ear off on the plane?
Who was that? I’m curious.
Who told you to book a room? I did.
You’re an ungrateful jackass.
Sleep in the lobby.
I hope you wake up so stiff
you can’t even move.
You got a free cab, a free room,
and someone who will listen
to your boring stories.
Didn’t you notice on the plane
when you started talking,
I started reading the vomit bag?
Didn’t that give you some clue
that this guy’s not enjoying it?
Everything’s not an anecdote.
You have to discriminate.
You choose things that are funny
or mildly amusing
or interesting.
You’re a miracle.
Your stories have none of that.
They’re not even amusing accidentally.
Honey, meet Del Griffith.
He’s got some amusing anecdotes.
Here’s a gun so you can blow your brains out.
You’ll thank me for it.
I could tolerate any insurance seminar.
For days, I could listen to them go on and on.
They’d say, “How can you stand it?”
And I’d say, “'Cause I’ve been with Del Griffith.
I can take anything.”
You know what they’d say?
“I know what you mean.
The shower curtain ring guy.”
It’s like going on a date
with a Chatty Cathy doll.
There should be a string on your chest
that I pull out.
Except I wouldn’t pull it out, you would.
Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!
By the way,
when you’re telling these little stories,
here’s a good idea.
Have a point.
It makes it more interesting for the listener.
And it’s got Kevin Bacon.
The shot of the two of them walking down the street with John Candy’s luggage breaks my heart every time.
Del is a great salesman. He sell those shower curtain rings in the bus depot to raise some cash.
Ear rings, They’re filled helium so they are very light.
Del could sell ice cubes to Eskimos. He is not a complete loser.
Excellent movie, and exactly my type of movie: funny and introspective.
Then again Fargo is also one of my favourites…Hmmmmmmmm???
I take a driving trip every year with a friend of mine, and we’re constantly quoting PT&A.
“Top o’ the morning, Officer!”
“We, uh, almost hit a deer.”
“Four fucking wheels and a seat!”
“You know what would make me happy?”
“Another couple of balls, and an extra set of fingers?”
… and so on and so forth…
jtgain:
A few years later, they probably would have made this with David Spade and Chris Farley.