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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    • 59 Metascore
    • 75 Mark Caro
    American Pimp
    Eighty-six minutes proves to be more than enough time to spend with these characters, but the Hughes Brothers make the case that this is a subculture as compelling as it is repellent.
    • Chicago Tribune
    • 59 Metascore
    • 75 Mark Caro
    The Shape of Things
    LaBute never loses sight of what shape he wishes this crafty story to take. In the end, his aim is true.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 63 Mark Caro
    The Fast and the Furious
    There's some undeniable appeal to watching a well-oiled, built-for-speed machine operating with its pedal to the metal -- even if it's destined to wind up in flames before the finish line.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 50 Mark Caro
    Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie
    Jonah may resemble an 83-minute Sunday school lesson, but at least it's a playful, colorful one, with spunky peas and tomatoes, chirpy kids' tune-- and bright animation that may not rival "Monsters, Inc." or "Shrek" but gets its points across.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 50 Mark Caro
    Shanghai Knights
    Chan and Wilson's easy camaraderie remains eminently watchable, but the rough edges from last time out are missed.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 75 Mark Caro
    Tortilla Soup
    Appeals to a universal appetite for stories that are as rich and warm as they are flavorful.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 63 Mark Caro
    Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
    The filmmaker's imagination is too rich for Spy Kids 3-D to be written off as a failure. But it's too bad that while the visuals have gained a dimension, the story has lost one.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 75 Mark Caro
    The Red Violin
    Although not all of the movements are fleshed out to their full potential, The Red Violin still attains a certain symphonic grandeur that -- at a time when so many filmmakers are churning out cinematic ditties -- deserves to be applauded. [18 June 1999, Friday, p.A]
    • Chicago Tribune
    • 57 Metascore
    • 50 Mark Caro
    13 Going on 30
    Plays like it was made by people who are 30 going on 13. The movie is as flighty and mixed up as the adolescent girl at its center.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 75 Mark Caro
    A Very Brady Sequel
    It's the simple pleasures that endure, so it would be curmudgeonly not to share Alice's happiness as she innocently sighs, "That Sam is so thoughtful. He promised to slip me a special tube steak."
    • 56 Metascore
    • 75 Mark Caro
    Buffalo Soldiers
    A well-told story. It pits a compelling central character against a formidable adversary in an intriguing setting while keeping you riveted to the cat-and-mouse strategizing, surprise turns and a few moments of actual warmth.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 50 Mark Caro
    Die Another Day
    You leave feeling like you've endured a long workout without your pulse ever racing. The exercise ultimately is product placement, with Bond the biggest product of them all.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 50 Mark Caro
    Cruel Intentions
    As Cruel Intentions progresses, you may come to realize that if a bomb suddenly blew up everyone on screen, you wouldn't particularly miss anyone.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 50 Mark Caro
    Sylvia
    It's a dreary movie about a dreary character, offering little insight into her poetry or the mental illness that ultimately conquered her.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 75 Mark Caro
    The Arrival
    As a head-trip movie with a moral, The Arrival engages the mind almost as much as it messes with it. [31 May 1996, p.F]
    • Chicago Tribune
    • 56 Metascore
    • 63 Mark Caro
    Dinosaur
    Of course, you expect talking animals in a Disney cartoon; you just may not initially realize that Dinosaur is the three-dimensional equivalent of one.
    • Chicago Tribune
    • 55 Metascore
    • 63 Mark Caro
    The Truth About Charlie
    Demme gets a lot of flavor and spice into his "Charade" remake, but he can't disguise that he's spiffing up leftovers that aren't so substantial or fresh.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 50 Mark Caro
    Love Actually
    The movie grows more cloying and repetitive as it stretches well beyond two hours. Almost every main character boasts the same bashful, puppy-dog attitude toward romance.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 63 Mark Caro
    Starsky & Hutch
    This is a profoundly unambitious movie, a '70s cop show spoof that aims to provoke a few giggles, and that's about it.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 75 Mark Caro
    Snatch.
    The abundance of visual and verbal wit here ensures that the pleasure of watching Snatch need not be guilty.
    • Chicago Tribune
    • 55 Metascore
    • 38 Mark Caro
    Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
    Stiller, a DodgeBall producer, is revealing an unfortunate craving for the cheese of his childhood.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 38 Mark Caro
    Old School
    The movie is never more than the sum of its scattershot jokes; it's sloppily put together, with scenes seemingly cut mid-dialogue.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 75 Mark Caro
    Groove
    If you require fine writing, sharp plotting and consistently good acting, you will be in for a long 86 minutes.
    • Chicago Tribune
    • 54 Metascore
    • 50 Mark Caro
    Shuang long hui
    It's all pretty dumb, but if you're in the mood for this sort of thing, you won't have a bad time. [9 April 1999, Friday, p.F]
    • Chicago Tribune
    • 54 Metascore
    • 50 Mark Caro
    From Hell
    Lacks the energy and urgency of its source material.
    • Chicago Tribune
    • 53 Metascore
    • 75 Mark Caro
    Save the Last Dance
    Sure, you've seen some of these moves before, but Save the Last Dance triumphantly passes the audition.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 63 Mark Caro
    Mousehunt
    The biggest factor working against Mouse Hunt may be its chilliness. Like some of the Coen brothers' work, it's so stylized that it often keeps you at an arm's length instead of sucking you into its whirlwind.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 63 Mark Caro
    Rounders
    Lazy, predictable and even dumb about what happens away from the tables. [11 Sept 1998]
    • Chicago Tribune
    • 53 Metascore
    • 50 Mark Caro
    In Too Deep
    An oft-told tale.
    • Chicago Tribune
    • 53 Metascore
    • 50 Mark Caro
    Another Stakeout
    Even before the witness-protection/trial angle has been conveniently jettisoned, it's clear that the plot is no more than a compulsory ingredient in a previously tested formula. Workmanlike in its execution, reliably predictable throughout, the movie might as well have been called "Another Paycheck."
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