Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)

John Hughes is a director who has made me laugh on a number of occasions; no mean feat for someone as stony faced as myself. Coming three years later, Hughes' Home Alone is almost the inverse of Planes, Trains. In the former, Kevin is left alone at home by mistake for Christmas, in the latter Neal is desperately trying to get home to his family for Thanksgiving. In fact, in the final stretch of Home Alone, Kevin's Mum attempts to get home to him by any means necessary, eventually sharing a van with a traveling band- led by none other than John Candy, Steve Martin's costar in Planes, Trains. So Planes is essentially that snippet of Home Alone stretched out, with Candy's Del attempting to help Neal get home but inadvertently foiling him at every turn. It's a Hughes classic, and his output hit ratio is pretty high (if we ignore some sexual humour that has aged horrendously, and strike his truly creepy and weird debut Sixteen Candles [1984] from the record) and this is up there with his best. Home Alone is probably still my favourite, but Planes, Trains And Automobiles sits up there in the Hughes rankings chart (director and producing credits included here) just behind the wonderful Uncle Buck (1989). If anything, it's a reminder of just how much comedy misses John Candy. 7.7/10