Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Were it not for its profanity-laden opening scenes, John Hughes' Planes, Trains and Automobiles might have been suitable family entertainment: certainly it's heaps less violent and mean-spirited than Hughes' Home Alone. En route to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with his family, easily annoyed ...more

Planes, Trains and Automobiles was promoted as teen movie guru John Hughes' first "adult" comedy, but the film maintains the same warm-hearted, absurdist humor that made his high-school fare so enjoyable. Hughes is adept at capturing the ridiculousness of everyday life and the often surreal nature of interpersonal contact. As with 1984's Sixteen Candles, the film is about the fight for peace and sanity in a world designed to thwart people; the locker rooms and detention halls have just been ...more