Chicago Reader's Scores

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For 6,312 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 42% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 56% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 4.9 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 60
Highest review score: 100 I Stand Alone
Lowest review score: 0 Old Dogs
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,983 out of 6312
  2. Mixed: 2,456 out of 6312
  3. Negative: 873 out of 6312
6312 movie reviews
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  1. Three Monkeys
    Strikes an impressive balance between the gathering tension of its noirish plot and the philosophical implications of the characters' compromises. That balance slips in a morose and dreadfully lethargic third act, but before Ceylan goes all Kiarostami on us this is a substantial European entry in a genre that American filmmakers can't seem to master anymore.
  2. Fighting
    Authentic locations and careful attention to detail help evoke several New York boroughs in all their gritty vitality, but the screenplay about a hunky street vendor turned underground fighter is sloppy and false.
  3. The Informers
    Repulsive 80s flashback.
  4. Tyson
    The resulting portrait shows a seriously troubled man whose brutality was bred into him on the punishing streets of Brooklyn and whose modest wisdom seems as hard-won as any title. Tyson's fight career may be over, but his battle with himself has many rounds to go.
  5. Earth
    This first feature from Disney's new nature division has an encyclopedic reach and spectacular footage shot by more than two dozen crack cinematographers.
  6. State of Play
    This manages to make the real seem generic, rather than the other way around.
  7. 17 Again
    The ancient body-switching premise is animated by a breezy script that briefly addresses some of its darker implications.
  8. American Violet
    Packed with dialogue and issues, and it’s most provocative when dealing with the dangers of plea bargaining.
  9. Every Little Step
    Modeling the movie after the show itself grows problematic near the end, when Stern and Del Deo, anticipating that climactic, gold-suited kick line, try to whip us into a frenzy on opening night.
  10. Is Anybody There?
    The sentimentality is held in check by Caine, who rises to the occasion with a bleak, angry performance.
  11. Anvil! The Story of Anvil
    Gervasi has tapped into a powerful if much-overlooked truth: humanity rocks.
  12. Observe and Report
    I've observed this Seth Rogen comedy, and I can report that it's not very good.
  13. Lymelife
    Thanks to a strong ensemble cast, it's poignant and funny.
  14. Fast & Furious
    The drag-racing saga "The Fast and the Furious" (2001) made stars of Vin Diesel, who promptly ditched the series, and Paul Walker, who bailed after "2 Fast 2 Furious" (2003). Both actors return for this fourth installment.
  15. Adventureland
    Funny, smart, and complacent.
  16. Alien Trespass
    Too slavish in its devotion to 50s sci-fi conventions to work as parody or camp, this indie comedy by "The X-Files" alumnus R.W. Goodwin sinks under the weight of its homage.
  17. Gigantic
    This is loads of fun in the early stretch, as the characters are being introduced, but the story never really goes anywhere.
  18. Paris 36
    The movie is essentially a pastiche, as musty as a flea market.
  19. Sugar
    This is a drama of shifting values and compromised ideals, arriving at a view of life that's wise, complicated, and tinged with melancholy.
  20. Tulpan
    A winner of the Cannes film festival's Un Certain Regard prize, this stayed with me, though I wasn't always happy to stay with it; the incessant braying of sheep, camels, and children may send you racing from the theater in search of the nearest martini lounge.
  21. Monsters vs Aliens
    Children won't get the references to atomic-age monster movies, but the film offers more than nostalgia: there are slyly funny performances by Seth Rogen as an omnivorous blue blob and Stephen Colbert as the U.S. president, who faces down, and then flees, an alien invasion.
  22. Goodbye Solo
    The emotion here is genuine, but the outlook is tough: in Bahrani's movies we're all aliens to each other.
  23. The Haunting in Connecticut
    It loses steam once the wraiths become fully visible: they're just not scary enough.
  24. Shall We Kiss?
    The problem is that once they do connect, their passion isn't believable.
  25. I Love You, Man
    Apatow became the hottest comedy director in the business by seamlessly combining relationship comedy that didn't bore the guys and wild comedy that didn't nauseate the girls; this is a knockoff, pure and simple, but its wit and ingenuous characters prove how far the bar's been raised.
  26. Duplicity
    With its one-liners and welter of double-crosses, it should settle on the video shelf between "Intolerable Cruelty" and "Mr & Mrs. Smith."
  27. Knowing
    Early scenes of mayhem and destruction are marred by subpar special effects; those in the final reel are spectacular, but there's a long wait for them because the movie is so maddeningly, portentously slow.
  28. The Great Buck Howard
    A suitable mainstream vehicle for Malkovich's bruised aloofness.
  29. Sin Nombre
    Writer-director Cary Fukunaga keeps the story lean while peppering it with realistic details.
  30. Valentino: The Last Emperor
    Part celebrity dish, part business journalism, this illuminating 2008 documentary about the legendary Italian designer Valentino Garavani spans the tumultuous final two years of his decades-long reign as one of the most successful innovators in the fashion industry.
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