Chicago Tribune's Scores

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For 7,601 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 62% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 36% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1.4 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 66
Highest review score: 100 Autumn Tale
Lowest review score: 0 Car 54, Where Are You?
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5,106 out of 7601
  2. Mixed: 1,473 out of 7601
  3. Negative: 1,022 out of 7601
7601 movie reviews
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  1. Beverly Hills Cop II
    If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Eddie Murphy has just paid himself a heartfelt compliment. Cut for cut, his Beverly Hills Cop II is almost a perfect match for the wildly successful "Beverly Hills Cop I," with only the crimes and the shticks changed to protect fans of the original. It could have been written by a witty computer. That's not all bad, given the quality of the model. [20 May 1987, p.C13]
    • Chicago Tribune
  2. Booksmart
    Mainly, Booksmart works because Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein are so magically right together.
  3. The Princess Diaries
    Manages to wring some originality out of its fairy-tale plot. This freshness compensates for the expected hackneyed qualities in this Cinderella tale.
  4. Trembling Before G-d
    The rigidity of most of the rabbis interviewed in the film is balanced by the presence of openly gay Orthodox Rabbi Steve Greenberg, who offers a more liberal, but no less scholarly, interpretation of the Torah.
  5. Pellet
    Despite an abrupt ending, Mana gives us compelling, damaged characters who we want to help -- or hurt. Perhaps most important, El Bola forces us examine our personal motivations for each impulse and their consequences.
  6. Shanghai Noon
    The first hit movie western of the new century - wins us with a wink. It leaves you in a bright, happily cross-cultural mood. Adios, amigos. And vaya con Jackie Chan.
  7. Little Odessa
    Little Odessa is a portrait of New York subcultures, the Russian immigrant community itself and the orginizatsya, or Russian mafia, that employs Joshua. The cityscapes are wintry and menacing. The characters have a strong pulse.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Gods and Monsters
    An engaging character study full of lyrical images and strong performances. It's an exceedingly well-made film.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    The Mystic Masseur
    A warm-hearted gem of a film based on the V.S. Naipaul novel of the same name.
  10. Things Change
    For much of its length the picture is brilliantly successful-light, surprising and, because it asks the audience to participate in its creation, unusually engaging.
  11. Romántico
    The value of Romantico is that it lets us experience vicariously what Carmelo and others like him go through.
  12. The United States vs. Billie Holiday
    The movie — certainly Daniels’s best since “Precious” — is as turbulent and zigzaggy as Holiday’s life no doubt felt like to the woman who lived it. If this risky movie hits some bum notes, Andra Day cannot be found anywhere in the vicinity.
  13. The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years
    There are few marquees that could contain the title The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: the Metal Years, but Penelope Spheeris' documentary on the heavy metal bands of rock 'n' roll turns out to be much more graceful than its name. [05 Aug 1988, p.B]
  14. Blind Date
    If Blind Date is soft and simple at its core, it is certainly the sharpest, funniest film Edwards has made since Victor/Victoria. After the sogginess of his last few features, all of his dazzling craft seems to have come back to him.
  15. The Trigger Effect
    A sometimes-sharp, sometimes-shallow, cunningly crafted thriller that tries to rely more on ideas and character than carnage and crashes. [30 Aug 1996, p.C]
    • Chicago Tribune
    • 75 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Clean
    Clean is above all a movie about making peace with uncertainty and doubt and living with the aftershocks of the choices we make. Not the easiest task, but it may be what redeems us in the end.
  17. Roll Bounce
    The movie is a thing of honey and gloss, yet there's just enough heart in the central father/son relationship, and in the teenagers' ensemble interactions, to make it glide by.
  18. You Kill Me
    Leoni is one of the truly distinctive comic actresses we have in the movies today, a tough broad with murderously effective timing and phrasing.
  19. My Life as a Dog
    It's an open, closely observed and nicely detailed film that attains an authenticity beyond the standard social worker formulas. [5 June 1987, p.B]
    • Chicago Tribune
  20. Songcatcher
    Any film about the folk tradition is required to have a stellar soundtrack, and Songcatcher does not disappoint.
  21. Just a Kiss
    Marisa Tomei turns in a blitzkrieg performance.
  22. Paradise Now
    It's an intricate, sometimes implausible ideological thriller that might be better as a smaller-scaled, less% preachy psychological drama. Still, "Paradise" catches and keeps your attention because of its daring subject, real-life backdrops and the intensity of its actors.
  23. Tsotsi
    It's compelling material, even if you don't completely buy Tsotsi's transition.
  24. 13 Tzameti
    Creating a mood that suggests an unholy mix of Czech novelist Franz Kafka, American pulp fictionist Jim Thompson and French heist moviemaker Jean-Pierre Melville, Babluani's story is about the perils of get-rich-quick schemes.
  25. Changing Lanes
    A thrilling ride but also a thoughtful one, it's a movie that does manage to do more good than bad by the end of the day.
  26. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
    Munchausen is indeed a beautiful, burgeoning, madly voluptuous movie from minute to minute and image to image; it's in the aggregate that the film fails to find the weight and the rhythm it needs to truly enthrall. [10 Mar 1989, p.A]
    • Chicago Tribune
    • 56 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Across the Universe
    If you're a Beatles fan who's not offended by people taking serious liberties with the arrangements of your favorite songs, the unrepentantly exuberant and seriously tuneful Across the Universe is pretty much a sure thing.
  28. Dune: Part Two
    Not a zingy marvel of narrative momentum. But it's not trying for that.
  29. Sleeper
    Sleeper has plenty of bald spots, lacks the inspired silent comedy of Take the Money and Run, but, these days, comedy beggars can't be choosers.
  30. In the Mood for Love
    Shimmers and glows. But it also stings a little -- like the lovely flame that dies and the smoke that, in yet another Cole song, gets in your eyes.
    • Chicago Tribune
  31. Set Me Free
    Shows us a filmmaker, unafraid of her emotions, unafraid to mine her past, someone clear-eyed, non-egoistic, full of life and warmth.
  32. Don't Bother to Knock
    Playing a deranged, possibly homicidal babysitter going bonkers in a hotel, Monroe steals the show in this efficient, vaguely creepy little thriller--despite the presence of both Richard Widmark (as her airline pilot target) and Anne Bancroft (as the hotel's pert lounge singer). [09 Dec 2005, p.C6]
    • Chicago Tribune
  33. All Is Lost
    The film has a quietly relentless quality. Redford is fully engaged and vital. I'll leave it to others to read greatness into All Is Lost. It's enough that it's good.
  34. Carlito's Way
    Big and violent, dark and operatic, both stingingly real and maddeningly overblown. But what gives it resonance is Pacino's performance.
  35. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
    Always engaging, never boring. You constantly appreciate Kaufman's intelligence and Gondry's lively filmmaking.
  36. The Best Intentions
    Charming and gentle and steady-on, it contains few dramatic moments (except for one notable scene involving two children), even fewer surprises, and lacks the judgmental harshness and bite of Bergman's most celebrated creations. [14 Aug 1992, p.B]
    • Chicago Tribune
  37. Spider-Man: Far from Home
    It’s good. It’s fun. It goes out of its way to salute the visual effects armies that have made the MCU what it is today, for better or worse.
  38. Goat
    There's a numbing aspect to Goat. But the best of it, I'd say, is honorably harsh; the subject should be difficult to watch, or the filmmakers aren't being honest about the way we operate as a culture, and what we allow and encourage our young men (and the young women who suffer the fallout) to put up with, still.
  39. Air
    Air is a good time, as well as a triumph of sports marketing in every conceivable way.
  40. Our Idiot Brother
    It's sweet, and low-key. It's very '70s in its vibe, which helps when the script veers in and out of formula.
  41. 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.
  42. Identity
    A slick, bloody thriller, but it's also, to its credit, a genuine whodunit.
  43. Switch
    Switch is highly recommended for Barkin's work, which has to be considered on a par with Steve Martin's similar comic turn in All of Me. [10 May 1991, p.C]
    • Chicago Tribune
  44. Malcolm & Marie
    Early on, the camera is outside looking in through the couple’s windows and it’s as if we’re eavesdropping. That kind of cinematic intimacy is a huge draw, even if things are about to get ugly.
  45. The Automat
    True to the egalitarian allure of the restaurant chain itself, Lisa Hurwitz’s documentary The Automat is both a touching farewell and a fond hello-again for those old enough to remember the salisbury steak, creamed spinach and peach pie behind those little windows of nickel-fed discovery.
  46. The Great Debaters
    Good story, well told. Interesting concept. I wonder if people will go for it.
  47. Changeling
    Changeling fundamentally works; it holds you. But these issues of texture and detail matter too, and they hold clues as to why Eastwood's latest is a good, solid achievement rather than a great, grieving one.
  48. The Notebook
    May be corny, but it's also absorbing, sweet and powerfully acted. It's a film about falling in love and looking back on it, and it avoids many of the genre's syrupy dangers.
  49. I.S.S.
    It’s a surprisingly trenchant story for what seems to be a slight genre thriller, but then again, genre thrillers can be the best vessels for these kinds of messages.
  50. Nico and Dani
    While Nico and Dani presents itself as a no-frills coming-of-age tale, its soundtrack seems lifted from a teen comedy like "American Pie."
    • Chicago Tribune
  51. Fantasia 2000
    Though not as good or as massively innovative as its predecessor, is still a mountainous undertaking.
    • Chicago Tribune
    • 71 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Desperately Seeking Susan
    It's a highly implausible story, but one that's told with engaging, often witty style, enhanced by the film's offbeat settings and situations and the charm of its cast. [29 Mar 1985, p.E]
    • Chicago Tribune
  53. Atlantis: The Lost Empire
    A well-told, vividly imagined movie that doesn't pretend to be more than it is and doesn't lean on pop-culture references to win over its viewers.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
    Like Thompson's work itself, it sometimes feels like a smoke screen, a colorful but distracting, distracted set of pretenses hiding as much as they reveal.
  55. The Dry
    At times, it can feel a bit like “Clue” with so many plausible characters and motives swirling around and around, but Bana keeps it grounded, as a professional trying to do his job the best he can, while caught up in memory and trauma.
  56. Ex Machina
    Alas, the movie cannot resolve its story in any sort of surprising or truly fresh way. Where's a good old-fashioned deus ex machina capper when you need it? It's worth seeing nonetheless.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Mr. Jealousy
    While the plot suffers from a few sit-comish aspects and some dumbly juvenile joking around between Lester and his buddies, the film gains strength from small, nutty scenes, dead-on reactions and off-the-wall lines that almost seem improvised.
  58. Spider-Man: Homecoming
    It's the non-superhero elements of Spider-Man: Homecoming that make it a great movie, and a non-stop fun summer flick. There isn't an ounce of fat on this film, packing in so many story elements and characters, while finding room for small, funny asides and moments that make it an addictively rich, idiosyncratic and re-watchable movie.
  59. Rana's Wedding
    Starts out slowly, unfolding a family history through the poetic use of black-and-white photographs -- blending the figures of Rana's ancestors into the frame as if they still watched the family.
  60. Under solen
    Swedish cinema has been famous for a number of things: beautiful actresses, fine sexy psychological dramas, natural settings, cinematic bawdiness and a touch of melancholy. Under the Sun fits that profile well.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Fantastic Planet
    Between the funky Alain Goraguer soundtrack, the sexy outfits, the surreal landscapes and the heavily metaphorical plot, the film still looks and sounds unlike anything else, either in animation or in sci-fi. [21 Jun 2016, p.C3]
    • Chicago Tribune
  62. All the Money in the World
    Scott’s production works on the level of classy, confident yarn-spinning.
  63. Runaway Jury
    It's suspenseful. Fleder and his able cast deliver a brisk, entertaining story that, despite straining credulity at times, earns a positive verdict -- no undue audience-rigging required.
  64. Monster
    I don't think it's a great movie -- though Theron's is a near-great performance -- but it's not one you can easily forget.
  65. Topaz
    Hitch's most plausible, least suspenseful spy thriller, based on Leon Uris' reality-inspired novel of intrigue in Cuba and France. [23 Jun 2006, p.C2]
    • Chicago Tribune
  66. Bridesmaids
    Wiig's natural and savvy instincts to go easy, and let the audience come to her, serve her and Bridesmaids well.
  67. Nighthawks
    Sylvester Stallone and Billy Dee Williams star in a thriller about New York detectives trying to capture an international terrorist. The story is full of holes but compelling nevertheless because we do grow to hate the terrorist and want him stopped. [19 June 1981, p.8]
    • Chicago Tribune
  68. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
    Honey, I Shrunk the Kids is the happiest surprise of this summer so far, a children's film from Walt Disney Productions that effortlessly renews the best tradition of that studio's live-action features.
  69. Army of Darkness
    Much of the movie's charm, in fact, is derived from its sense of its own instant disposability. Raimi has created the cinematic equivalent of fast food-efficient, unassuming and seriously regressive. It may not be much good for you in the end, but consuming it is loads of fun. [19 Feb 1993, Friday, p.C]
    • Chicago Tribune
  70. Operation Mincemeat
    Operation Mincemeat takes liberties. All historically based movies do. Call Madden’s version a civilized shell game that accomplishes its mission, more or less in the spirit of how things actually got made up and went down.
  71. Che
    Che is Soderbergh's most interesting film in years, defiantly eccentric and absorbing at its best.
  72. Almost Peaceful
    Like the work of an expert tailor, it's done with unobtrusive skill, essential warmth and seamless grace.
  73. The Green Butchers
    Macabre, oddly gripping.
  74. Sunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan
    “Sunday Best,” from director Sacha Jenkins (who died this past May), is a fine effort that explores Sullivan’s commitment to pushing back against network forces, sponsors and other interested parties who were opposed to the presence — the celebration, really — of Black people on the show.
  75. One Night at McCool's
    Suggests a raunchier, cruder version of a Coen brothers comedy, but it's also a kind of honky-tonk "Rashomon."
    • Chicago Tribune
  76. The Road to Guantanamo
    It's a fervent, topical political drama of extraordinary impact and ferocity.
  77. God Grew Tired of Us
    A year into their new lives, all three men experience profound isolation. How, they wonder, can Americans live such anti-social lives, so unconcerned with the idea of societal interdependence? This is the chief unexamined question raised by a worthy picture. What is there holds you all the same.
  78. Arctic
    The film is a fine reminder of how cinematic language can and should transcend the spoken word.
  79. Step Into Liquid
    As a bonus, "Liquid" also includes eye-popping footage of the top surfers in the world (Taj Burrow, Laird Hamilton, Dave Kalama) -- wave riders who make the impossible look easy.
  80. The Safety of Objects
    Presented with such confidence, such care, that we love all of the characters, even if we don't like them.
  81. Batman Begins
    Nolan is a fascinating, offbeat choice for a huge movie franchise such as this. Just as Bale turns Batman into a near-tragic obsessive -- a Scarlet Pimpernel with the soul of a Hamlet and Monte Cristo -- Nolan turns Batman Begins into something much closer to Miller's "Dark Knight" interpretation.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    Fun & Fancy Free
    What makes this video really interesting and superb entertainment for viewers 5 and older is that it blends animation with live action and carries two separate, full animated features with separate human narrators. [07 Aug 1997, p.9B]
    • Chicago Tribune
  83. The Last Boy Scout
    The Last Boy Scout will win no year-end awards, but at least it delivers the goods-which is more that can be said for most of this year's holiday releases.
  84. The Ninth Gate
    Elegant, scary fun.
  85. Ping Pong
    There's nothing particularly original or striking about Ping Pong except its style. It's a breezy, likable story, and the director here, Fumihiko Sori, obviously enjoys his work.
  86. Ironweed
    Ironweed is more than a chance to watch two multimillion-dollar actors play bums. Each character has a particular story; each is given a dignity that seems honest in the context of a worldwide Depression in the late '30s, and at no time are we certain what the future holds in store for either character. [12 Feb 1988, p.A]
    • Chicago Tribune
  87. Divorce Iranian Style
    A highly provocative documentary.
  88. Babygirl
    Kidman rises to the occasion, and while one-note mediocrities like “The Substance” offer gallons of fake blood where the provocations should be, Reijn’s film — seen the second time, at least – only needs its nerve and its interest in what Kidman can do, which is more than I even realized.
  89. I Love You, Man
    What works best is whatever's completely incidental to the story, such as the totes-magotes/slippy mcgippy jive talk.
  90. Captain America: Civil War
    Nothing in “Civil War” takes your breath away. All the exteriors are shrouded in the same overcast, indistinct light. Little in story terms is what you’d call daisy fresh. But almost everything in it works on its own prescribed terms, and the quiet moments register.
  91. Letters to Juliet
    She delivers a solid and easy star performance. Some young performers lack a relatable quality; Seyfried has it, even with those old-school, big-screen peepers.
  92. The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
    Ynpretentious and efficient, Curtis Hanson`s suspense drama The Hand That Rocks the Cradle suggests, after the monstrous ego trips of this past holiday season, that some sense of professionalism continues to reside in Hollywood.
  93. A Complete Unknown
    The actors, by and large, are first-rate. And the songs don’t hurt.
  94. American Gangster
    It’s a big, juicy 1970s period piece, one foot in real life, the other in the movies, the preferred stance of many Hollywood crime sagas.
  95. Rain Man
    Though it's well directed, written and performed, Rain Main still slips irreversibly into the so-what category. [16 Dec 1988]
    • Chicago Tribune
  96. The Rundown
    Has what we usually want to see in movies like this: bravura action, tongue-in-cheek humor, but most of all attitude.
  97. The Invisible Woman
    Even if you don't entirely buy this version of events, director Ralph Fiennes has given us a speculation that works as drama. It's an elegant bit of goods.
  98. Sunshine Cleaning
    The director, New Zealander Christine Jeffs ("Sylvia"), loosens the plotting as best she can, letting the interactions breathe. Her work, and the film, is strictly about the performers.
  99. Long Shot
    It's "Veep," but less absurdly acid-tongued, and a lot more swoony. Still, the incisive cultural and political commentary cuts deep, and Theron and Rogen turn out to be a winning pair.
  100. Just Looking
    A teen comedy wise beyond its years.
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