Chicago Tribune's Scores

For 7,613 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:
7613 movie reviews
  1. State of Play isn't a kinetic fireball like the second or third "Bourne" installment; like its protagonist, it's defiantly old school, "Three Days of the Condor" bleeding into "All the President's Men."
  2. The movie's heart, of course, is with poor addled Mike and his kids, but 17 Again works only fitfully to make the Efron/Perry character worth a story.
  3. It's a big ice cream sundae, this one -- not great documentary filmmaking but tasty all the way.
  4. I can't imagine Anvil! not appealing to anyone interested in any aspect of showbiz, and the drug of fame, and the lives people lead in pursuit of the next fix.
  5. I like the end-credits sequence best, which has nothing to do with hoary complications or the miseries of stardom or the magical spellbinding powers of a cheap wig.
  6. A coming-of-ager that nearly slaughters you by minute 30 with the relentlessness of its protagonist's voiceovers.
  7. There's about 10 good minutes out of 85.
  8. A sweet, sharp coming-of-age romance, Adventureland is a little warmer, a little funnier and a lot more truthful than the last 20 or 30 of its ilk. Especially its Hollywood ilk.
  9. This one slice of the American experience amounts to one of the best films of the year.
  10. The filmmaker's documentary training pays off in detail after detail.
  11. It's tough to get on board with these monsters. They don't get the banter they--or we--deserve, and the screenwriters lean on wearying stereotypes.
    • 38 Metascore
    • 38 Critic Score
    Noisy, cut into a head-snapping blur with little room for Cena to even try showing emotion, 12 Rounds is an occasionally exciting but always empty experience.
  12. The acting's so true, and Bahrani's so observant, you find yourself caring about everyone onscreen.
  13. The movie bumps along from low-grade scare to scare, and it's not lousy, mainly because Virginia Madsen prevents it from being so.
  14. Ledoyen in particular humanizes the story-within-a-story strategy. Her character's sly verbal hesitations become part of a mutual seduction, more theoretical than practical, but enticing nonetheless.
  15. What works best is whatever's completely incidental to the story, such as the totes-magotes/slippy mcgippy jive talk.
  16. The look and sound of Duplicity is half the payoff.
    • 41 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Until it jumps the tracks into self-righteousness, though, Knowing, directed by Alex Proyas, can also be as unnerving as the best episodes of "The Twilight Zone."
  17. Crushingly realistic one minute and melodramatically hokey the next.
  18. The filmmaker's access was impressive, the results moderately entertaining.
  19. Hinges on humiliation and vengeance, which makes it like most other modern horror titles. Its focus on sexual assault, however, puts it in a different, more primal league.
  20. The action beats are so relentless, no sooner does one chase end than another begins.
  21. 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.
  22. Made with the full cooperation of the Pentagon, Brothers at War makes the war on-screen seem eminently winnable, eminently noble. Rademacher's desire to prove himself to himself, and to his soldier brothers, may stir different reactions among different audience members. And that's as it should be.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 75 Critic Score
    In her first feature film, Masterson creates a slice of life that is very believable (especially if you've ever seen "The Jerry Springer Show") and often endearing.
  23. Each performance in this plaintive work is superb, but Kyoko Koizumi's gently melancholy portrait of the businessman's wife keeps Tokyo Sonata true and affecting, even when the later passages go a little nuts.
  24. The appeal of the film version, such as it is, relates almost entirely to eye-for-an-eye, severed-limb-for-a-limb vengeance, two hours and 41 minutes of it, with just enough solemnity to make anyone who thought "The Dark Knight" was a little gassy think twice about which superhero myth THEY'RE calling gassy.
  25. There is a good deal of honest charm in this story, and in the three principal performances.
  26. The movie expresses honest concern for the plight of so many newcomers to America, legal or illegal. What it lacks is moment-to-moment credibility.
    • 45 Metascore
    • 38 Critic Score
    The film is awkwardly stitched together from candy-gloss arena concert footage and somewhat grimier-looking backstage/limo/hotel room moments. There is no attempt to make it all hang together as an organic whole.

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