Chicago Sun-Times' Scores

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For 8,158 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 73% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 25% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 6.1 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 71
Highest review score: 100 Falling from Grace
Lowest review score: 0 Jupiter Ascending
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6,087 out of 8158
  2. Mixed: 1,243 out of 8158
  3. Negative: 828 out of 8158
8158 movie reviews
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  1. Legal Eagles
    After the fires, explosions, chase scenes, shootouts, ambushes and dead bodies, the movie's human story seems sort of lonely and forlorn. Maybe there was some kind of satirical purpose in surrounding the people with so much activity. I dunno. But the extra ingredients make a potentially better movie into a confused, overloaded and disjointed one.
  2. Caddyshack
    Caddyshack never finds a consistent comic note of its own, but it plays host to all sorts of approaches from its stars, who sometimes hardly seem to be occupying the same movie.
  3. Where Do We Go Now?
    The movie is never quite bold enough to point out the contradiction of Muslims and Christians hating one another, even though they both in theory worship the same god.
  4. Jobs
    It’s a competently made, traditional biopic about a man who disdained those terms.
  5. Drive Me Crazy
    Slight and sweet, not a great high school movie but kinda nice, with appealing performances by Hart and Grenier.
  6. The Outsiders
    Coppola's teenagers seem trapped inside too many layers of storytelling.
  7. The Ladykillers
    The Coens' Ladykillers, on the other hand, is always wildly signaling for us to notice it. Not content to be funny, it wants to be FUNNY! Have you ever noticed that the more a comedian wears funny hats, the less funny he is?
  8. Sneakers
    It's a sometimes entertaining movie, but thin.
  9. The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes
    Billy Wilder's "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes" is disappointingly lacking in bite and sophistication, the first two qualities we'd expect from the director of "The Apartment" and "The Fortune Cookie."
  10. The Apple Dumpling Gang
    The story is simple and obvious, but it's told with a lot of energy, and the cast is jammed, with character actors doing their things.
  11. Shall We Kiss?
    They (the characters) approach the subjects of sex and romance with a naivete so staggering, it must be an embarrassment in the greater world. Inside their hermetically sealed complacency, I suppose it's a little exciting.
  12. Light of My Life
    Though Light of My Life is a well-filmed and occasionally brutally effective piece of work, Affleck dilutes the power of the story with too many self-indulgent, patience-testing scenes.
  13. The Robber
    The movie therefore offers meager pleasures of character. Where it excels is in staging and cinematography. The running sequences, in races, on city streets and through forests, are very well-handled.
  14. Inside Man
    The whole plot smells fishy. It's not that the movie is hiding something, but that when it's revealed, it's been left sitting too long at room temperature. Inside Man goes to much difficulty to arrive at too little.
  15. License to Drive
    The first half of License to Drive, which is mostly concerned with taking the lessons and passing the test and getting the license, is very funny. The second half, which is mostly an extended chase scene in which a hapless teenager's grandfather's Cadillac is wrecked by a drunk, is much more predictable.
  16. The Ring Two
    The charm of The Ring Two, while limited, is real enough; it is based on the film's ability to make absolutely no sense, while nevertheless generating a real enough feeling of tension a good deal of the time.
  17. Daybreakers
    This intriguing premise, alas, ends as so many movies do these days, with fierce fights and bloodshed.
  18. Light It Up
    If I can't quite recommend the movie, it's because so much of the plot is on autopilot. The dialogue spells out too much that doesn't need to be said.
  19. The Old Way
    This is a revenge Western we’ve seen dozens of times before, and the villains aren’t nearly as intimidating and pitch-black evil as they need to be. The end result is a passably entertaining shoot-’em-up with very few surprises.
  20. X-Men: First Class
    X-Men: First Class is competent weekend entertainment. It is not a great comic book movie, like "Spider-Man 2," or a bad one, like "Thor." It is not in 3-D, which is a mercy.
  21. Nadja
    What Almereyda brings to the film is good control of tone (the movie is ironic, and yet sad about its irony) and an interesting visual style.
  22. Dolphin Tale 2
    This second film is again heartwarming and includes some nice performances from Connick, Gamble and Morgan Freeman.
  23. Grindhouse
    Both impressive and disappointing. From a technical and craft point of view it is first-rate; from its standing in the canon of the two directors, it is minor.
  24. Life During Wartime
    There's always rationing in wartime. What's rationed in Todd Solondz's Life During Wartime are feelings of hope, kindness and optimism.
  25. Desert Dancer
    The powerfully choreographed dances also address the idea that artistic vision is a potent antidote to repression.
  26. 102 Dalmatians
    Doesn't really seem necessary.
  27. The Children of Huang Shi
    Tells an engrossing story of a remarkable man, but nevertheless it's underwhelming. Dramatic and romantic tension never coil very tightly, as the film settles into a contented pace.
  28. Loving
    The cinematography, the set design, the costumes, the overall feel of Loving: all first-rate. Negga and Edgerton are undeniably good. I was impressed. I just wish I’d been more deeply moved.
  29. We Bought a Zoo
    The result is too much formula and not enough human interest.
  30. Heaven Is for Real
    This company of actors pulls together and delivers a lot of punch to a pedestrian script inspired by quite an amazing tale.
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