The movie is an excellent comedy, but I think it is a much better John Candy movie than a Steve Martin movie. That’s fine as the stoic Neal character really serves as the foe for John Candy to play off of.
This is a really interesting comedy as John Candy and Steve Martin really do carry the entire movie. Even though the movie has a young Kevin Bacon as well as a cameo by Ben Stein, there aren’t any supporting actors of note in the sidekick role.
I can’t imagine Thanksgiving without this movie!
My mom can cry just thinking about this movie. For some reason, John Candy’s character really struck a chord with her. I get it . . . but I’ve never cried at it.
I love this movie!!!
This sequence (Especially the first couple minutes):
Still make me laugh like a hyena. The first time I saw the movie (On VHS) I rewound and watched those two minutes like a hundred times. Still I laugh to crying when I see it.
(In fact- just now I went through it a time or two 
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It’s been a tradition for me to watch this movie every Thanksgiving Eve. It’s one of those movies that is always funny no matter how many times you watch it.
It had moments for me, but on the whole I found it pretty generic. The car rental scene, however, absolutely made it worth the $4 when I saw it in the theater. Though I don’t care for it overall, that scene definitely makes any of my Top 50 film comedy moments lists.
Yep, best scene in the movie.
For John Candy, I think that Only The Lonely is a better movie. But, this one has incredible moments. It’s a movie that I quote periodically, and no one in my peer group has any idea what I’m talking about.
I adore this movie. Who cares about the movie stars???
I grew up in Hinsdale. Steve Martin’s house/home/kids/wife might have well been from there, or Evanston, or Winnetka, or Lake Forest. Driving up Illinois highways in winter storms … been there, done that.
The scene on the El tracks near the end … that was one of my old El stops in about 1986. Sniff! SAD !!!
I’m crying! I need to go back to Chicago. I could never afford to move “home” and live in my so-called home town. But ChiTown still RULES.
Normally I don’t pick on people’s taste. but WHAT THE FUCK !!! This was one of the best comedies ever written and put on film. Generic? Damn. Wow. 
He was 29.
Best Film For Thanksgiving. (from another thread)