J.R. Jones

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Chicago Reader
For 1,513 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 43% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 54% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 6.5 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

J.R. Jones' Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 59
Highest review score: 100 The Baader Meinhof Complex
Lowest review score: 0 Bad Boys II
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 697 out of 1513
  2. Mixed: 598 out of 1513
  3. Negative: 218 out of 1513
1513 movie reviews
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    • 63 Metascore
    • 60 J.R. Jones
    Rocky Balboa
    As usual with Stallone's Rocky sequels, the schmaltz is unbearable, but the fight is plausibly handled, and Stallone's sincere sadness at growing older makes this an unexpectedly satisfying conclusion to the series.
    • 40 Metascore
    • 50 J.R. Jones
    Sleepwalking
    The movie seems unusually honest in portraying the no-option existence of the working poor, but the story slips into melodrama in the last reel.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 50 J.R. Jones
    Street Kings
    It preserves the peculiar machismo of Ayer's earlier projects: the alpha male dominates not only because he's the most powerful, but because he's the most jaded.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 30 J.R. Jones
    Stuck
    As the title of this splatter comedy by writer-director Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator) indicates, he's like a bug stuck to her windshield, and that's about the level of humanity and insight one can expect here.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 70 J.R. Jones
    The Signal
    Cagey low-budget horror flick.
    • 36 Metascore
    • 40 J.R. Jones
    War
    Routine crime thriller.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 50 J.R. Jones
    Romance & Cigarettes
    This singing-along-to-the-radio effect has a dingy charm that honors the blue-collar Italian setting, yet Turturro spoils it by turning the movie into a hip star party, with a cast of indie-acting royalty.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 90 J.R. Jones
    The Hangover
    Todd Phillips is no artist, but his lowbrow comedies (Road Trip, Old School) always hit the mark because they're so psychologically true: the superego tries to control the id, but the id gets drunk and barfs all over it. Hilarious.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 J.R. Jones
    Jerichow
    Undeniably well executed.
    • 45 Metascore
    • 30 J.R. Jones
    Whatever Works
    Whether you want to trace this romance back to "La Strada" or Allen's marriage to Soon-Yi Previn is your business, but on-screen it never registers as more than a writer's conceit.
    • 39 Metascore
    • 40 J.R. Jones
    Irene in Time
    With its sappy musical vignettes and encounter-session dialogue, the movie consistently overplays its insights, though all three leads contribute thoughtful and genuine performances.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 J.R. Jones
    North Country
    Charlize Theron, in nonglam mode, dominates this powerful drama about sexual harassment at a Minnesota iron ore mine in the early 90s.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 J.R. Jones
    Look Both Ways
    Watt's script is a bit overstuffed, and by the end the roiling animated sequences (drawn by Emma Kelly and inked by Watt and Clare Callinan) are wearing out their welcome. But the convincing characters and hearty examination of mortality make this fresh and oddly uplifting.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 50 J.R. Jones
    Al Franken: God Spoke
    I love Franken and wish there were more funny liberals in the chattering class, but his crushing sarcasm wouldn't exactly elevate the national debate.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 90 J.R. Jones
    Manic
    Brutally honest and brilliantly acted.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 40 J.R. Jones
    Piglet's Big Movie
    Indifferently scripted and shoddily animated feature.
    • 30 Metascore
    • 30 J.R. Jones
    The Butterfly Effect
    Abysmal thriller.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 50 J.R. Jones
    Seducing Doctor Lewis
    Agreeable but overlong.
    • 34 Metascore
    • 30 J.R. Jones
    Big Momma's House 2
    This is funny mostly for its brazen disregard of common sense.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 J.R. Jones
    Miracle
    Kurt Russell gives a terse, unsentimental performance as coach Herb Brooks, but director Gavin O'Connor sticks to the "Hoosiers" playbook.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 J.R. Jones
    Knafayim Shvurot
    Berman delicately unravels the silent resentments festering in the latchkey home, but the pain is leavened by his droll sense of humor.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 50 J.R. Jones
    My Sister's Keeper
    Surrounding and ultimately subsuming this ethical struggle is a fair amount of pediatric-cancer horror and mush, though Cassavetes is frequently bailed out by his cast (Diaz is admirably unpleasant as the controlling mother, and Joan Cusack is unusually tough and restrained as the presiding judge).
    • 19 Metascore
    • 30 J.R. Jones
    Downloading Nancy
    To her credit, Bello makes a real commitment to this spiteful, self-absorbed character, though the credibility she generates through sheer force of will is no match for the gimmicky plot twist that arrives at the story’s midpoint and sends the movie spinning off into stupid-land.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 30 J.R. Jones
    Sherlock Holmes
    The very idea of handing him over to professional lad Guy Ritchie (who directed Snatch, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), to be played as a punch-throwing quipster by Robert Downey Jr., is so profoundly stupid one can only step back in dismay.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 40 J.R. Jones
    So I Married an Axe Murderer
    Myers pumps out a river of inventive shtick, but it doesn't cohere or connect; he seems less a character than a comedian doing couch time on a late-night talk show.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 60 J.R. Jones
    Sex Drive
    The gags are as idiotic as you'd expect, but they consistently hit the bull's-eye.
    • 38 Metascore
    • 50 J.R. Jones
    Balls of Fury
    This is pretty thin soup, but the players are spirited and the jokes generally offbeat.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 30 J.R. Jones
    Step Brothers
    Ferrell and Reilly get more mileage out of juvenile pouting and bickering than any other performers I can imagine, but that's about as far as this goes.
    • 41 Metascore
    • 30 J.R. Jones
    The Limits of Control
    Jarmusch makes some effort to deliver on the promise of suspense near the end, with de Bankole stalking despicable businessman Bill Murray at his fortresslike compound in the hills.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 70 J.R. Jones
    The Blind Side
    The story is inspiring and involves sports, but to call it an inspirational sports story would be wrong; its real center is Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock in a fine performance), the strong-willed woman whose love and generosity helped turn a mute, hopeless boy with no social or academic skills into a functioning young man with a promising future.
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