Chicago Tribune movie review archive

Movie review: 'Iron Man'

Downey Jr. adds dash to superhero

Movie review: 'Made of Honor'

Something borrowed, all right

Movie review: 'Standard Operating Procedure'

This time, war’s fog envelopes filmmaker

Movie review: 'Then She Found Me'

Hunt’s directorial debut gracefully negotiates family ties

Movie review: 'Fade'

Truth gets lost in ambiguous marital tale

Movie review: 'The Unforeseen'

The ill effects of development

Movie review: 'Last Year at Marienbad'

A maddening, majestic classic returns

Movie review: 'Baby Mama'

Bringing down ‘Baby’

Movie review: 'Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay'

‘White Castle’ charms lost on way to Gitmo

Movie review: 'Deception'

Nobody’s fooled by obvious plot twists

Movie review: 'Tuya's Marriage'

Heroine adds much to study in contrasts

Movie review: 'Chapter 27'

A few pages in the life of John Lennon’s assassin

Movie review: 'The Life Before Her Eyes'

Surplus of plagues overwhelms fine acting

Movie review: 'Deal'

Poker movie, Reynolds’ face fold

Movie review: 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall'

Breakup comedy finds itself on a solid foundation of humor

Movie review: 'The Visitor'

Character actor excels in low-key lead performance

Movie review: 'Young@Heart'

Aging-chorus doc strikes a chord

Movie review: 'My Blueberry Nights'

It looks good, but the flavor doesn’t last

Movie review: 'Flight of the Red Balloon'

Master responds with a masterpiece

Movie review: 'Zombie Strippers'

Horror flick shows some brains

Movie review: 'The Forbidden Kingdom'

Dull road leads to a bright ending

Movie review: '88 Minutes'

Limp serial-killer plot can’t harry Al Pacino’s ’do

Movie review: 'Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?'

Self-serving doc offers helpings of annoyance

Movie review: 'The First Saturday in May'

Kentucky Derby doc can’t stay on track

Movie review: 'J’Entends Plus la Guitare'

Secrets of life and love arrive in everyday life

Movie review: 'Smart People'

Casting, writing doesn’t pass the test

Movie review: 'Street Kings'

Keanu’s the dull, pretty boy in this version of ‘Cops gone wild’

Movie review: 'Priceless'

French confection fits its title

Movie review: 'Chaos Theory'

Timing’s off, but in just the right way

Movie review: 'My Brother is an Only Child'

Sibling, political rivals in 1960s Italy

Movie review: 'Blindsight'

Into the dark, thin air

Movie review: 'The Favor'

Love’s labors: win, lose or family ties

Movie review: 'Wings of Defeat'

Shows that hundreds of the World War II-era Japanese warriors have survived into old age

Movie review: 'Ping Pong Playa'

Charming despite requisite training sequences and a cartoonishly evil opponent

Movie review: 'Leatherheads'

Clooney can’t QB a screwball winner

Movie review: 'Nim's Island'

Script sends book’s charm out to sea

Movie review: 'Shine a Light'

All-stars on both sides of the cameras

Movie review: 'Planet B-Boy'

Break dancing lives, internationally

Movie review: 'The Grand'

Casino comedy crosses line from quirk to jerk

Movie review: '21'

Adapted tale of card-shark MIT students never feels real

Movie review: 'Stop-Loss'

Thanks to family ties, Iraq film rises above genre

Movie review: 'Run, Fat Boy, Run'

Hybrid comedy leaves laughs in the dust

Movie review: 'Flawless'

Michael Caine the gem in this flawed heist film

Movie review: 'Caramel'

Steel magnolias in Lebanon

Movie review: 'Teeth'

Excess of symbolism, gore dull film’s bite

Movie review: 'CJ7'

Chinese ‘E.T.’ should still call home

Movie review: 'Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day'

Remembering it’s a movie, ‘Pettigrew’ perseveres

Movie review: 'The Bank Job'

Conspiracy theory pays off in lively bank heist flick

Movie review: '10,000 BC'

Agreeably bone-headed

Movie review: 'College Road Trip'

Fun-free effort earns a thin envelope

Movie review: 'The Life of Reilly'

Much more than ‘The Match Game’

Movie review: 'War/Dance'

Unexpected joy in wake of atrocities

Movie review: 'Girls Rock!'

Girls do rock, not so this doc

Movie review: 'The Band's Visit'

Oscar near-miss still a prize

Movie review: 'The Other Boleyn Girl'

Tale of two sisters rests on a wildly uneven foundation

Movie review: 'Chicago 10'

When Chicago was the center of the political universe

Movie review: 'Penelope'

Teen fable needs more than a whiff of creativity

Movie review: 'City of Men'

Back to Rio, where the boys became men

Movie review: 'The Counterfeiters'

Oscar winner explores the morality of survival

Movie review: 'Semi-Pro'

Not even semi-funny

Movie review: 'Vantage Point'

Like ‘Groundhog Day,’ with more shooting and less Sonny and Cher

Movie review: 'Be Kind Rewind'

Early nostalgia for the YouTube generation

Movie review: 'Charlie Bartlett'

In a cinematic land, where the nerdy outsider is king

Movie review: 'The Signal'

‘Signal’s’ 3 parts aren’t harmonious

Movie review: 'Still Life'

An exception to the February doldrums

Movie review: 'David & Layla'

Interfaith pairings maintain cinematic interest

Movie review: 'Summer Love'

The Old West, Eastern European style

Movie review: 'Witless Protection'

Dumber’n a family reunion in the cousins-can-marry belt

Movie review: 'Honey and Clover'

Art school romance knows what it likes

Movie review: 'The Business of Being Born'

Birthing film delivers one point of view

Movie review: Oscar-nominated shorts

A chance for another rooting interest on Oscar night

Movie review: 'Step Up 2 the Streets'

Surprising ‘Streets’ keeps on steppin’

Movie review: 'George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead'

Tale of a camcorder and some cold, dead hands

Movie review: 'The Spiderwick Chronicles'

Colorful, fast-moving adventure

Movie review: 'Jumper'

‘Jumper’ leaps about but never goes anywhere

Movie review: 'Definitely, Maybe'

'Definitely' a date movie

Movie review: 'Fool's Gold'

Recalling older, funnier romantic comedies

Movie review: 'The Hottie and the Nottie'

Verdict: not so hot

Movie review: 'In Bruges'

If the wit, characters are killers... It must be Belgium

Movie review: 'Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins'

Too many comics don’t spoil the country cooking

Movie review: 'Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show'

Comedy road show brings laughter, tears

Movie review: '4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days'

Overlooked actress, film astound

Movie review: 'Taxi to the Dark Side'

On torture, where we started, where we are now

Movie review: 'Over Her Dead Body'

Rudd’s presence detected, but film’s charms are still ephemeral

Movie review: 'The Eye'

Not a bad film, actually, just functional and relatively tasteful

Movie review: 'Nanking'

Shedding light on a sordid WW II chapter

Movie review: 'Daughters of Wisdom'

Female empowerment seizes the high ground in Tibet

Movie review: 'Tre'

Director’s 2nd feature shows style, promise

Movie review: 'Untraceable'

More like ‘unwatchable,’ despite presence of Lane

Movie review: 'How She Move'

A dance film with the right moves

Movie review: 'U2 3D'

3-D effects amp up U2’s cool

Movie review: 'Steep'

‘Steep’ shares the spills and the thrills

Movie review: 'Election Day'

Doc accounts for diverse representation of precincts in 2004

Movie review: 'Times and Winds'

Trio’s road to adulthood twists, turns in the mountains

Movie review: 'Cloverfield'

Echoes of 9/11 stir when a visitor to New York starts throwing its weight around

Movie review: '27 Dresses'

Bouquets for Heigl, not so the script

Movie review: 'Mad Money'

Cast on the ‘Money,’ not so the script

Movie review: 'First Sunday'

Moral more noteworthy than laughs in ‘Sunday’

Movie review: 'The Bucket List'

‘Bucket List’ a hokey look at living and dying

Movie review: 'Persepolis'

Surviving the revolution within, without

Movie review: 'Honeydripper'

‘Honeydripper’ moves to a rhythm only Sayles hears

Movie review: 'Note by Note'

They love a piano

Movie review: 'The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything—A Veggie Tales Movie’

Anyone can sprout into a hero, says new Veggie Tales film

Movie review: 'There Will Be Blood'

Greatness courses through Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation, Daniel Day-Lewis performance

Movie review: 'The Rape of Europa'

Study of Nazi art heists suffers from soft focus

Movie review: 'Fireworks Wednesday'

‘Fireworks’ illuminates Iranian domestic life

Movie review: 'Kurt Cobain About a Son'

Cobain biopic a matter of tastes

Movie review: 'Diva'

At 25, ‘Diva’ stands up to the spotlight

Movie review: 'Millions'

Story of lotteries and luck could be richer

Movie review: 'The Orphanage'

‘Orphanage’ adopts mysterious restraint

Movie review: 'Charlie Wilson's War'

War’ backers lack will to succeed

Movie review: 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street'

Thanks to Johnny Depp, ‘Todd’ retains its flavor despite some trimming

Movie review: 'National Treasure: Book of Secrets'

More albatross than ‘Treasure’

Movie review: 'Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story'

Music strikes a chord, but story trips up ‘Walk Hard’

Movie review: 'Juno'

Initial fumblings precede a prize pic in ‘Juno’

Movie review: 'The Perfect Holiday'

Contrived ‘Holiday’ a long way from perfect

Movie review: 'I Am Legend'

Classic apocalyptic vehicle carries Will Smith halfway home

Movie review: 'Alvin and the Chipmunks'

All the notes are falsetto as Chipmunks return

Movie review: 'The Kite Runner'

Plot strings twist too conveniently in ‘Kite Runner’

Movie review: 'Starting Out in the Evening'

Deep characters thrive on N.Y.C. roots

Movie review: 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly'

Memoir of catastrophe inspires a masterpiece

Movie review: 'Grace is Gone'

Young stars infuse ‘Grace’ with feeling

Movie review: 'The Walker'

‘Walker’ should have taken a narrower path

Movie review: 'The Savages'

Life with father, but only at the end

Movie review: 'Man in the Chair'

Not a comfy ‘Chair,’ but stars support the film

Movie review: 'Youth Without Youth'

After a decade away, Coppola aims high but misses

Movie review: 'P.S. I Love You'

‘P.S.’ a love letter that gets misdelivered

Movie review: 'The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep'

Hero’s outsized, but story is small, sweet

Movie review: 'The Golden Compass'

‘Compass’ points to thrills, not controversy

Movie review: 'Atonement'

‘Atonement’ a tale twice told well

Movie review: 'Strength and Honor'

‘Strength and Honor’ lacks consistency and credibility

Movie review: 'Revolver'

‘Revolver’ gets another spin, still misfires

Movie review: 'Romance and Cigarettes'

‘Romance & Cigarettes’ oddly harmonic

Movie review: 'What Would Jesus Buy?'

A sharp look—and poke—at holiday commercialism

Movie review: 'For the Bible Tells Me So'

‘Bible’ tests limits of family, faith, love

Movie review: 'It is Fine! Everything is Fine!'

A trilogy with a singular vision

Movie review: 'Memories of Tomorrow'

‘Memories’ succumbs to soap, but Watanabe keeps battling

Movie review: 'Enchanted'

Sly princess is enchanting

Movie review: 'Margot at the Wedding'

‘Margot’ is difficult company but worth the effort

Movie review: 'The Mist'

‘Mist’ envelopes another strong King adaptation

Movie review: 'I'm Not There'

Unique singer gets a biopic to match

Movie review: 'August Rush'

Take Dickens, add sugar, get ‘August Rush’

Movie review: 'Hitman'

‘Hitman’ armed with video game violence, speed

Movie review: 'This Christmas'

‘This Christmas’ sings thanks to its capable cast

Movie review: 'Milarepa'

‘Milarepa’ a philosophical, familiar pleasure

Movie review: 'Choking Man'

‘Choking Man’ recalls that A-Ha feeling

Movie review: 'Beowulf'

Draggin’ tale: Until the fiery beast shows up, ‘Beowulf’ feels less than epic

Movie review: 'Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium'

‘Magorium’ dodges the treacle and ends up a treat

Movie review: 'Southland Tales'

‘Southland Tales’ a wreck from which you can’t look away

Movie review: 'Love in the Time of Cholera'

‘Cholera’ adaptation lacks spark of love

Movie review: 'Redacted'

Shocks for shocks’ sake weaken ‘Redacted’

Movie review: 'O Jerusalem'

‘Jerusalem’ takes a too-soapy approach to bubbling strife

Movie review: 'Naked Boys Singing'

‘Naked Boys’ on film show their shortcomings

Movie review: 'No Country for Old Men'

Serial thriller: Coens back to ‘Fargo’ form—minus the laughs

Movie review: 'Fred Claus'

Ho ho hum: ‘Fred Claus’ not naughty, nice enough to register

Movie review: 'Lions for Lambs'

‘Lions’ never puts money where its mouths are

Movie review: 'P2'

‘P2’ another entry in the woman-haters canon

Movie review: 'Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten'

‘Clash’ star Joe Strummer elevates his posthumous documentary

Movie review: 'Rails & Ties'

Bad story leaves ‘Rails & Ties’ derailed

Movie review: 'Darfur Now'

‘Darfur Now’ a documentary with an urgent beat

Movie review: 'King Corn'

‘King Corn’ an entertaining look at an unappetizing topic

Movie review: 'National Lampoon presents Electric Apricot: Quest for Festeroo'

‘Electric Apricot’ a shadow of its inspiration

Movie review: 'American Gangster'