John Hughes Films: Ranked From Worst To Best

2. Planes, Trains And Automobiles

Planes, Trains And Automobiles marked a shift in Hughes' work, as he began to move away from the teen angst films that proved so popular. His transition to full-on comedy here, with adults as the central protagonists, showed Hughes' versatility and that he wasn't just about high schoolers and their problems.

The film was helped, of course, by the incredible talents of its leads, John Candy and Steve Martin. Their chemistry was off-the-charts, with Martin's relative restraint providing a nice counterbalance to Candy's manic, physical performance. The man versus technology road trip story has been done before, but never has it been as funny as it was here.

Despite being a comedy first and foremost, there is an undercurrent of sadness running throughout the film, punctuated towards the end when Martin's Neal Page realises something tragic about Candy's Del Griffith. The balance is measured perfectly, though, and you walk away from Planes, Trains... with a big smile on your face (even if the final freeze frame shot is a total heart-breaker). The favourite films of both Steve Martin and John Candy.