Mark Caro

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Chicago Tribune
For 284 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 52% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 45% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 5 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Mark Caro's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 61
Highest review score: 100 City of God
Lowest review score: 0 The Real Cancun
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 154 out of 284
  2. Mixed: 78 out of 284
  3. Negative: 52 out of 284
284 movie reviews
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    • 70 Metascore
    • 75 Mark Caro
    Madonna: Truth or Dare
    As she says in one of the film's more blatant thesis statements: "I'm not the world's best singer or best dancer, but that's not the point. I'm interested in pushing buttons." Madonna's doing just that in Truth or Dare, but what she chooses to reveal remains far more revealing - and entertaining - than almost any comparable self-portrait. [17 May 1991, p.C]
    • Chicago Tribune
    • 69 Metascore
    • 75 Mark Caro
    Undercover Brother
    Has such a cheerfully zingy energy that you keep rooting for it even when its jokes turn flatter than a jump shot at a YMCA pickup game.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 88 Mark Caro
    The Cooler
    The movie boasts one of those rare twist endings that strikes the right emotional chords, and it deserves credit for laying its bets on a sexy, sympathetic Macy. Sometimes long shots pay off.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 63 Mark Caro
    Monster's Ball
    A serious movie made by seriously talented people, and I never quite came 'round to it.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 88 Mark Caro
    There's Something About Mary
    The day after seeing it, you're less likely to fixate on the flaws than to find yourself experiencing chuckle aftershocks as you recall the most outrageous gags. In these days of mostly forgettable comedies, that sensation has become all too rare. [15 July 1998]
    • Chicago Tribune
    • 69 Metascore
    • 75 Mark Caro
    Kill Bill: Vol. 1
    There's no question that Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, Vol. 1 is a virtuoso piece of filmmaking. What's questionable is whether it's more than that.
    • 27 Metascore
    • 50 Mark Caro
    Coyote Ugly
    Meant to be appreciated solely for its gleaming surfaces.
    • Chicago Tribune
    • 68 Metascore
    • 75 Mark Caro
    Babe: Pig in the City
    It's refreshing that a family movie dares to be as emotionally charged as this one, but you wish Miller had paused before he piled everything on and said to himself, "That'll do."
    • 68 Metascore
    • 63 Mark Caro
    Chopper
    A point is being made about how a criminal creates his own myth, but the ways Read twists and embellishes the truth become progressively less interesting.
    • Chicago Tribune
    • 68 Metascore
    • 63 Mark Caro
    Miracle
    While the movie's heroes lay everything on the line, Miracle is too content to skate along the surface.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 75 Mark Caro
    The Bourne Identity
    Liman packs enough firepower into The Bourne Identity to please the summer action fan, including a reshot climax that contains one of the niftier stunts I've seen recently. The centerpiece action sequence is a bravura car chase through Paris, yet the moments that bookend it are equally impressive.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 50 Mark Caro
    The Door in the Floor
    The Door in the Floor feels more about a situation than actual people. It's sensitively rendered, filled with those necessary evocative details, and it never rings true.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 75 Mark Caro
    Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
    Reflects the sensibilities of its director, whose comedic performances in particular have indicated a game spirit and droll sense of humor.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 75 Mark Caro
    Frequency
    Corny and far-fetched it may be, but Frequency works - except for some stretches when it doesn't.
    • Chicago Tribune
    • 66 Metascore
    • 75 Mark Caro
    Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
    Against all odds this "Terminator" deserves to be welcomed back.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 38 Mark Caro
    Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
    Now that Smith has gotten these characters and jokes out of his system, here's hoping he can turn to material that doesn't require winking at the audience.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 63 Mark Caro
    Bend It Like Beckham
    Much of the value -- entertainment and otherwise -- of seeing a culture-specific movie is to connect with a larger world than your everyday life offers.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 63 Mark Caro
    King of New York
    Walken seems to run on his own alternative fuel source - he's always easier to observe than to understand - which makes him the natural villainous hero for Abel Ferrara's seedy King of New York, a film more interested in leaving impressions than spinning a smooth narrative. [11 Dec 1990, p.9]
    • Chicago Tribune
    • 66 Metascore
    • 75 Mark Caro
    Mystery Men
    They're a ragtag assembly for sure, and the results aren't pretty. But on a simple mission of entertainment, they get the job done.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 63 Mark Caro
    Coffee and Cigarettes
    The draggy ones make you restless while the best ones, like the movie's title ingredients, provide a buzz that doesn't last long enough.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 75 Mark Caro
    Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
    Does it immerse the uninitiated into a new, fabulous world? Yes. To the book's many readers, does this feel like the real "Harry Potter"? For the most part, yes.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 50 Mark Caro
    Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
    In the end the violence is too realistic (though not terribly graphic) to qualify as cartoony escapism, yet the movie lacks the sophistication, vision or satirical edge to lay claim to any higher purpose. It's merely dark for dark's sake.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 88 Mark Caro
    Love Jones
    At times Witcher leans too heavily on the familiar, with the ups and downs of the last half hour growing repetitive and wearisome. But his accomplishment is nonetheless impressive. [14 Mar 1997, p.A]
    • Chicago Tribune
    • 40 Metascore
    • 63 Mark Caro
    The Cell
    Impresses more than it entertains.
    • Chicago Tribune
    • 65 Metascore
    • 63 Mark Caro
    The Town Is Quiet
    The movie may not be as toxic and ultimately hopeless as Todd Solondz's "Happiness," but it also fails to find humor, dark or light, in anything.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 75 Mark Caro
    Panic Room
    Fincher has a dazzling command of visual storytelling.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 50 Mark Caro
    Ali
    We've seen Ali as the charismatic star of the real-time drama of his life. "Ali," for all its flashy filmmaking, just doesn't compare.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 75 Mark Caro
    Grazia's Island
    This is one of those films that can accurately be described as small. Mostly, you just appreciate the time spent with these particular people in this particular place.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 75 Mark Caro
    Intermission
    If Intermission isn't profound, it's got boisterous humor and energy, with U2's rollicking "Out of Control" leading the charge. Given the grimness of many Irish tales, Intermission represents less of a pause than a burst into a fresh direction.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 75 Mark Caro
    Peter Pan
    It's as if the movie itself has been sprinkled with fairy dust, and good thing, too: The world of Peter Pan is, at heart, so troublesome that it might as well also be enchanting.
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