Chicago Reader's Scores

  • Movies
Select another publication »
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
view
per page
  1. The Cartel
    Bowdon makes a compelling argument against the defensive maneuvers of teachers' unions and in favor of vouchers and charter schools, but his documentary is no exercise in free-market cant. It merely explodes the fiction that funneling more money into the same highly bureaucratized and politicized system will fix our deepening education crisis.
  2. Rosewood
    As a director, Singleton shares with Furious a didactic streak. Singleton is no demagogue, but his fast-action style tends to erase the nuances of interracial dynamics.
  3. The Promise
    Chen Kaige clearly intended this Chinese fantasy-action spectacle to top Zhang Yimou's "Hero," and I must admit that I prefer it to the earlier movie: the digital effects are sometimes excessive, yet Chen's story of a loyal slave, his master, and a wealthy, seemingly doomed princess is more affecting, especially in the closing stretch.
  4. The Sum of All Fears
    Screenwriters Paul Attanasio and Daniel Pyne stick to Clancy's sure-fire formula -- building tension from the political infighting behind a worsening crisis.
  5. Beowulf & Grendel
    The epic poem Beowulf gets an imaginative, low-budget workout in this 2005 Icelandic feature by Sturla Gunnarsson.
  6. Divorce Iranian Style
    A rare example of a successful documentary in the mode of Frederick Wiseman made outside the United States.
  7. Imagine That
    Eddie Murphy strikes the right balance between silliness and pathos in this screwball family comedy.
  8. Before Night Falls
    An impressive piece of filmmaking, with lively and suggestive depictions of pre- and postrevolutionary Cuba (shot in Mexico).
  9. Shakespeare Behind Bars
    This fascinating video documentary covers a nine-month rehearsal of Shakespeare's final play by inmates at the Luther Luckett Correctional Complex in La Grange, Kentucky.
  10. Red Road
    Despite the thick Scottish accents, filmmaker Andrea Arnold kept me intrigued, but beyond a certain point the movie's ambiguity fades into indifference.
  11. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
    This nicely made 1994 comedy-drama could be described as an Australian "Easy Rider," with Sydney drag queens instead of bikers and no apocalyptic ending.
  12. Shaolin Soccer
    A spirited crowd-pleaser.
  13. Frost/Nixon
    Ron Howard directed, with outstanding support from Kevin Bacon as Jack Brennan, Nixon's fierce chief of staff.
  14. Monster
    Honest curiosity and observation are what make this work, and in this respect Christina Ricci (as Wuornos's lover, Selby Wall) is almost as good as Theron.
  15. The Future of Food
    I tend to approach green documentaries with all the enthusiasm of an unemployed logger, but this hard-charging digital video about genetically modified organisms kept me on the edge of my seat with its lucid exposition and frontal assault on Monsanto.
  16. America: Freedom to Fascism
    Provocative but also infuriating, this alarmist documentary argues that the levying of a federal income tax in 1913 was unconstitutional and set America on the road to fascism.
  17. Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds
    This video sequel to the gay comedy "Eating Out" (2004) is funnier, lighter, and faster paced.
  18. American Gangster
    With one of these two alpha males anchoring nearly every scene, Scott really can't go wrong, but the lead characters are pretty thin, a fact highlighted by generic subplots.
  19. Heading South
    The film tackles more than it can master, but it's never less than fascinating, and all three leads are exceptional.
  20. Menace II Society
    This shocking, violent, and unsentimental (albeit sensationalized) drama about a second-generation drug dealer (Turner) and the callous world he lives in, produced by "To Sleep With Anger's" Darin Scott, is terrifically acted.
  21. The Great Debaters
    Conceived like a sports movie, this delivers passion, nuance, and historical insight along with unnecessary hokum.
  22. The Girl Next Door
    Challenges us to reconcile its snapshots of earnest entrepreneurs, colleagues, and fans with its long takes of her disillusionment.
  23. Speed
    The deft arabesques of cinematographer Andrzej Bartkowiak juice up the suspense, and if you're not too put off by the sheer ridiculousness of the story you won't be bored.
  24. Alias Betty
    As long as Miller simply crosscuts between the machinations of the three mothers, the sociological and psychological parallels are intriguing, but when they're forced to share the same story line, the contrivances and coincidences begin to seem fussily elaborate.
  25. The Foot Fist Way
    It plays exactly like a Will Ferrell comedy, but better, because Ferrell's not in it.
  26. Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer
    One of the few white vocalists to play the Apollo, O'Day does fabulous things with her hands as well as her voice when she sings. Her talent and will to survive (in the late 60s she kicked a 16-year heroin addiction) are reasons enough to see this film.
  27. Adventureland
    Funny, smart, and complacent.
  28. Araya
    This meticulous restoration dazzles with crisp, formally rigorous black-and-white images and a complex sound mix, as its minimalist story of three families of manual laborers unfolds against a harsh, barren peninsula.
  29. Henry's Crime
    Reeves often displays moderate to little affect onscreen; here his reserve suits the story, as the experience of acting helps the reticent loser find himself. Vera Farmiga crackles as the feisty star of the play, while James Caan, as the hero's accomplice, proves a most charming rogue.
  30. Kaboom
    Funny, scary, and exuberant, Kaboom delivers the goods as both a generational marker and a tale of things to, uh, come.
Page:

Top Trailers

See all »
See all trailers »