Remember a couple years ago I would write up various Xmas holiday Christmas movies and opine on whether or not they would be remade again today?

No?  Oh…well then.

This is my review of Wayfinder Hell:

Given I am currently wondering how I managed to escape Thanksgiving at my mother’s house with only a few slices of pie to show for it.  We’re going to start with a Thanksgiving movie…Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.

Meet Neal.  Neal is an advertising toad played by America’s brother-in-law (Steve Martin).  After meeting with a business client in Nee York that takes his time in deciding if he will pursue Neal’s proposal, Neal finds himself in a rush to get to the airport in time to catch his flight home to Chicago.

He discovers 1980’s New York is absolute shitshow, and has difficulty hailing a cab.  He finally gets one after bribing an asshole a New Yorker for his cab he discovers the cab was taken by some fat ass after he finished buying off the other guy.

Meet Del.  Del is a traveling salesman played by Canada’s morbidly obese uncle.  He is at least a jolly, lovable uncle that we forget he’s actually Canadian and never hold it against him.

While at the airport, Neal recognizes Del as the fat ass that stole his cab, poisoning the well for every interaction between Neal and Del for the rest of the flight to Chicago.  Upon finding out the flight was diverted to Wichita, KS the two set up a tenuous agreement in getting back to Chicago in time for Thanksgiving.  Neal is a stuffy, straight arrow type who’s expectations for every step are thwarted by either bad luck, slapstick scenarios, midwest Americans, and Del is something of a annoying buffoon that irritates Neal every step of the way.  Every scene we find relatable situations into Neal’s personal hell that allows for humor that holds up today.

This being a holiday movie, it falls into the mushy sentimental trap with its ending when we find out Del is actually a high functioning Hobo who’s wife passed away several years prior.  Neal and Del began the movie at odds with each other and end up friends, with Neal inviting Del to his home for Thanksgiving.

 

Can this movie be made again today?  No. Written and directed by John Hughes, with his signature distaste for Hollywood created an unusual cultural inversion unique to the 1980’s.  Every one of his movies are comedies that take place in Chicago (this one at least ends there).  He almost single-handedly put America’s cultural center in the midwest.  Not just his movies, but others like Running Scared, The Fugitive, Police Academy, Blues Brothers, Wayne’s World, etc.  In addition to TV shows in that era, like Family Matters, Perfect Strangers. and Oprah.  This helped make the 80’s America’s weird decade we look upon fondly.

Today the cultural center is split somewhere between Northern California, Austin, and Miami.  In none of these locations does the plot device work, and travel is planned easily enough through smart phone apps.  Del would probably be actually homeless, as our current culture makes it acceptable for a man in his situation to become a drug addict and making a living with multiple side hustles involving eating out drug dealer’s buttholes.  That and Neal’s profession doesn’t really exist anymore since advertising is delivered via algorithms.

 

Once again, Wayfinder finds the market niche for non-threatening yellow beer and pretty much nails it.  This being a Munich-style Helles Lager at 4.7% ABV makes for easily drinking but not particularly eye catching in the grocer’s cooler.  So they’re stuck trying to play on the word Helles with a lazy pun, which is a damn shame, this is pretty good. Wayfinder Hell: 3.6/5