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 1.3 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. The Sum of All Fears
    The sum of all snores until the moviemakers start blowing up Baltimore halfway through. Then the special-effects people take over for about 20 breathless minutes.
  2. Undercover Brother
    Has such a cheerfully zingy energy that you keep rooting for it even when its jokes turn flatter than a jump shot at a YMCA pickup game.
  3. Nijinsky: The Diaries of Vaslav Nijinsky
    Sadly, this noble effort is loving but lame.
  4. The Sleepy Time Gal
    Playing a role of almost Bergmanesque intensity -- a tough, lonely woman dying of cancer as she examines her past -- Bisset is both convincing and radiant.
  5. Enough
    One of those movies that starts like a house afire, catches you firmly in its narrative grip and then suddenly blows itself out, not really going out with a whimper but with a big, bad, ludicrous bang.
  6. Insomnia
    Smart and well-crafted, and it boasts complex characters, effective star turns and evocative photography of a small Alaskan town in summertime, when the sun never sets. It's a solid Hollywood thriller.
  7. Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
    A welcome family film that extols noble values and offers first-class animation.
  8. The Importance of Being Earnest
    Resonates and inspires rapid-fire bouts of laughter, perhaps even a few giggles from the author himself, whom posterity has rewarded the last laugh.
  9. Late Marriage
    One of those welcome visitors, a movie that turns out to be much more than we expected.
  10. About a Boy
    It's funny, moving and true, and it respects the audience's intelligence as much as the characters'. That combination, no matter the movie's label, deserves to be treasured.
  11. The Believer
    One of the year's most thought-provoking, hard-hitting films, gutsily opening up a subject rarely done with this kind of all-out chutzpah.
  12. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
    Attack of the Clones celebrates a certain youthful spirit in both moviemaking and movie watching; because it's as much phenomenon as movie, audiences will either ride with or reject it. I was happy to take the ride.
  13. Unfaithful
    All the accolades Lyne got for "Fatal Attraction" -- and didn't really merit -- he deserves here.
  14. The New Guy
    You have to have faith that kids will recognize a bad movie when it's foisted on them -- and they don't get much worse than The New Guy.
  15. The Lady and the Duke
    A vivifying film, though it's done in such a strange style that it takes a while to get used to it.
  16. Ultimate X: The Movie
    After clawing their way into the Olympics, so-called extreme sports deserve respect, but this is no way to get it.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 88 Critic Score
    Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India
    Features colorful song-and-dance numbers that look and sound best in surround sound and on a huge screen.
  18. Home Movie
    In true Chris Smith fashion, he seems far less interested in the homes themselves than in the touching relationship between homeowner and abode.
  19. ABC Africa
    Lovely, heart-stirring 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.
  21. Warm Water Under a Red Bridge
    A movie about love, friendship and finding oneself, and it takes all its subjects very seriously while seeming to treat them with the lightest and most piquant of touches. Like its bizarre heroine, it irrigates our souls.
  22. Hollywood Ending
    Not perfect, and neither are life or the movies. But you'd have to be blind yourself not to relish its qualities or laugh at its barbs.
  23. Spider-Man
    The Spider-Man saga is a classic for a reason, and the filmmakers don't squander the material's strengths.
  24. Grin Without a Cat
    This is a movie about the world at war with itself, and the result is riveting, sublime and unforgettable.
  25. Spiral
    Like many horror films, it loses steam as it gets more graphic.
  26. Rain
    What lingers are the unsettling feelings, inexplicably potent images and realization that some of life's key crossroads are visible only in the rearview mirror.
  27. Life or Something Like It
    It's dispiriting to see Jolie wasting herself (and a good supporting cast) on a story that requires little more than an average pretty actress who can wear clothes well and laugh and cry on cue.
  28. Dogtown and Z-Boys
    Few sports films catch their time, place and sport so well. For skateboard fans, this is a must. But it's also a great ride if you know nothing about the sport or what it meant. At the end of this movie, you will.
  29. Some Body
    Bennett also co-wrote the script, based loosely on her own experiences, and is the best thing about the film. A physical cross between Holly Hunter and Christine Lahti, she's quite convincing as she tries to figure out what has gone wrong in her personal life - and how she can fix it before it is too late.
  30. Circuit
    It makes the viewer wonder whether Circuit would have been stronger as a documentary instead of the well-intentioned, overlong, intermittently entertaining but flawed feature that it is.
  31. Sade
    A fine, handsome-looking costume drama that works best as a historical account of a brutal era. But as a portrait of the Marquis de Sade, it is not titillating in the over-the-top manner of "Quills."
  32. Sex with Strangers
    It makes you sweat, laugh, squirm and self explore like few films -- fictional or documentary -- can.
  33. Jason X
    Jason X conjures up more giggles than scares, assuming you make it through the first 15 minutes.
  34. The Salton Sea
    Sacrificing content for style, Caruso gives us a lot to look at but little to ponder.
  35. Enigma
    The film manages to crack all its codes, and even when it sags a bit, it's never lacking grace and some wit. Not enigmatically at all, it pleases and teases us -- in high style.
  36. Chelsea Walls
    Aims for a sadness and desperation that is crudely announced rather than subtly demonstrated.
  37. The Scorpion King
    A dumb movie, but it's also a knowing one: a cheap castle of lewd trivia and corny excitement built on The Rock.
  38. Murder by Numbers
    The outline of Murder by Numbers may be familiar, but the filmmakers and Bullock do an expert job of filling in the colors.
  39. Nine Queens
    Two suggestions as you watch it: Never take anything for granted, and keep your hand on your wallet as you leave the theater.
  40. Murderous Maids
    Lucidity, austerity and quiet compassion are peculiar virtues to ascribe to a movie about a horrific real-life murder case, but those are among the best qualities of Jean-Pierre Denis' Murderous Maids.
  41. Space Station 3D
    The film's greatest moments take place in space. There, words are unnecessary, the images transfixing.
  42. Girls Can't Swim
    Despite its shortcomings, Girls Can't Swim represents an engaging and intimate first feature by a talented director to watch, and it's a worthy entry in the French coming-of-age genre.
  43. My Big Fat Greek Wedding
    Predictable and dull.
  44. The Triumph of Love
    The artifice may be ancient, but the thought and emotions -- and especially Sorvino -- are beautifully, refreshingly modern.
  45. Human Nature
    Tries for both civilized wit and primitive joy -- and mostly misses both.
  46. Mule Skinner Blues
    There's nothing more uplifting than a documentary that celebrates a man's capacity to dream, and nothing more depressing than one that mocks those dreams. Stephen Earnhart's Mule Skinner Blues walks the razor's edge between these approaches.
  47. 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.
  48. Frailty
    Most of Frailty is so good -- done in a low-key, realistic mood of genuine creepiness and dread -- that it doesn't need formula shocks.
  49. The Cat's Meow
    The movie leaves us with the image of rich folks frantically dancing the Charleston because if they stop, they'll have nothing. The point is as untrue as it is simplistic.
  50. The Sweetest Thing
    Lacks the meanness of so many recent gross-out comedies. With the sparkling Diaz leading the way, the lame humor is much more palatable.
  51. The Other Side of Heaven
    Captures a breathtaking exotic landscape cluttered only by the smugness of its characters.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Run Ronnie Run
    What began as a sketch movie ended up like a slightly better than average "SNL" flick, though Odenkirk, Cross and a number of famous and semi-famous friends do get some chuckles out of their story of Ronnie Dobbs, compulsive troublemaker. [16 Sep 2003, p.C3]
    • Chicago Tribune
  53. High Crimes
    It's still a disappointment: a well-mounted and well-acted suspense movie that, thanks to its illogical script, falls off a cliff midway through.
  54. American Chai
    There are no surprises in this movie -- not even in the Bollywood parodies, when the hero and heroine finally, subversively kiss. There is talent, though.
  55. Van Wilder
    An unabashedly bad movie full of cliches, claptrap, fairly good rock 'n' roll and stomach-turning gross-out gags.
  56. Lucky Break
    The movie moves predictably to its feel-good finale.
  57. The Komediant
    Able to provide insight into a fascinating part of theater history, spanning from Russia to the New York Catskills.
  58. Big Trouble
    Sonnenfeld mishandles the broad part of the comedic formula, preferring repetition to thematic development.
  59. Crush
    A surprising and delightful romantic take on modern women.
  60. The Rookie
    The Rookie may be pushing buttons, but at least they're the right buttons.
  61. The Piano Teacher
    You will not forget The Piano Teacher. Nor will you forget Isabelle Huppert, a brave, brilliant actress who here plays her masterpiece.
  62. Death to Smoochy
    A dark comedy that blows up like an exploding cigar, leaving nothing much behind but smoke, noise and a bad taste.
  63. Panic Room
    Fincher has a dazzling command of visual storytelling.
  64. Clockstoppers
    With Clockstoppers, Frakes hobbles along with a high-concept film that doesn't live up to its potential.
  65. Son of the Bride
    It's fresh, funny, biting, fast-paced and reasonably perceptive about people and their problems.
  66. Sorority Boys
    The situations and jokes are as predictable and as lowbrow as the endless pratfalls the boys take in their high heels.
  67. Blade II
    Against the rest of his dramatically flimsy crew, Snipes' sunglasses-at-midnight strut conveys an almost lifelike sheen. Almost. He's more alive than the movie, which is dead on arrival.
  68. Pauline and Paulette
    It's a moving tale of love and destruction in unexpected places, unexamined lives.
  69. Y Tu Mamá También
    Raunchy, smart, ebullient, melancholy, insightful, surprising, funny, frank and sexy as all get-out.
  70. Showtime
    A criminal waste of talent.
  71. Ice Age
    It's a fast, funny picture, and the worst thing you can say about it is that it's no "Toy Story," no "Shrek." That may be true, but one thing Ice Age proves is that the new digitized cartoons are a form whose time has come.
  72. Harrison's Flowers
    A powerhouse of a film about modern journalism and war, with battle scenes that have the immediacy and impact of the famed opening sequence of "Saving Private Ryan."
  73. Resident Evil
    One of the few video game movies to truly re-create the gaming experience -- from the three-dimensional maps to the structure of encountering increasingly grisly and dangerous foes at higher levels of play.
  74. Festival in Cannes
    Makes compromises itself, but only because of its small budget and its director's mixed dark-and-rosy vision, at once cynical and sentimental. Yet at least it has a vision -- of both life and cinema.
  75. The Time Machine
    It's a movie that robs the story of its politics and point and never really matches the charm of the '60s film.
  76. All About the Benjamins
    Unfortunately, the home-run performances of Cube and Epps are handicapped by inept and illogical action sequences.
  77. We Were Soldiers
    Probably the best thing you can say about We Were Soldiers is that it does justice to an awful conflict.
  78. Pépé le Moko (re-release)
    A timeless romantic thriller that steeps us in one of those great artificial movie worlds that become more overpowering than reality itself.
  79. Borstal Boy
    It's really a crock: a coming-of-age boys' prison film that has only a fanciful link with Behan's life. The film is a bastard grandchild of Tony Richardson's 1962 "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner."
  80. 40 Days and 40 Nights
    This pretty but witless movie is well-produced, slickly directed -- full of jokes about hot dudes and hot babes pitched right at the "American Pie" crowd.
  81. Stolen Summer
    Stolen Summer is no disaster, though. It's merely one more misfire fortunate enough to attract actors like Bonnie Hunt and Aidan Quinn, who almost make it work.
  82. Big Bad Love
    There's a sass and bite to Winger's acting, a grinning intelligence, unabashed sexiness and total immersion that make her one of the movies' few hipster female stars.
  83. The Cherry Orchard
    Any Chekhov is better than no Chekhov, but it would be a shame if this was your introduction to one of the greatest plays of the last 100 years.
  84. Monsoon Wedding
    Delighted me like few films I've seen recently. It's a sexy, sweet, sumptuously entertaining movie about the huge and wildly eventful wedding reception.
  85. Dragonfly
    A sappy, often absurd disappointment, another would-be inspirational romance that, like Costner's overwrought "Message in a Bottle," is impossible to swallow.
  86. Maryam
    A searing reminder of the relevance of recent history and of the timeless power of fiction to humanize people and crystallize sweeping events into personal drama.
  87. Mean Machine
    Sports movies are never easy to pull off, but Skolnick does a fine job of balancing the drama with the on-field action.
  88. Queen of the Damned
    Leaves us puzzled as to why the term "damned" applies at all, when vampirism is depicted as so cool, fashion-savvy and glamorous.
  89. Hart's War
    Just because a movie was inspired by real life and has good intentions doesn't mean it can't wind up as phony as a three-dollar bill.
  90. Super Troopers
    Manages to leave the impression that it was funny even though most of its jokes don't score.
  91. John Q
    Waste in the health care system is deplorable, but waste on the movie screen isn't so great either.
  92. Umberto D (re-release)
    A film that lets life flood into our souls.
  93. Wendigo
    Fessenden cooks up a likably offbeat horror movie. But somehow, it never jells, never really scares us.
  94. Crossroads
    Spears delivers a performance with the same sincerity she invests into a Pepsi commercial, only this film contains twice the sugary calories.
  95. Scratch
    It lays the groundwork for such collaborations by suggesting that all forms of music must come full circle before evolving into something new.
  96. Return to Never Land
    Takes us to familiar lands but without any of the original's magic.
  97. Collateral Damage
    This is one of those would-be blockbusters that wants to have it both ways: It includes enough political commentary to have pretensions of seriousness, yet it's engineered to satisfy the explosion cravings of Schwarzenegger action fans, if any are left.
  98. Swiri
    A beautifully tooled action thriller about love and terrorism.
  99. Scotland, Pa.
    Think about the worst movie ideas you've had in your life, the ones so embarrassing they make you wince. Now imagine this: a modernized version of Shakespeare's "Macbeth" titled Scotland, Pa.
  100. Rollerball
    Some movies should never have been made, and high on that list is the addled new remake of Rollerball.
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