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Jessica Reaves

Jessica Reaves's reviews only count toward the Tomatometer® when published at Tomatometer-approved publication(s).
Biography:

Chicago Tribune staff reporter

Reviews

Movies TV Shows
The Brothers Bloom (2008) 68% 3/4 EDIT “An awfully good time.” – Chicago Tribune May 5, 2009 Full Review Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) 26% 1.5/4 EDIT “If there is a single bright spot in the financial crisis, it is the possibility that one day producer Jerry Bruckheimer will run out of money.” – Chicago Tribune Feb 13, 2009 Full Review Marley & Me (2008) 63% 3/4 EDIT “The book, like the movie it inspired, is a sweet, surprisingly moving chronicle of a young couple's struggle to simultaneously build a family, advance their careers and maintain their sanity.” – Chicago Tribune Dec 24, 2008 Full Review One Day You'll Understand (2008) 64% 3/4 EDIT “This is not a movie of big, dramatic revelations; in fact, the notionally elusive truth is pretty obvious from the movie's outset, which makes Victor's quest less about facts and more about principles.” – Chicago Tribune Nov 13, 2008 Full Review Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story (2008) 93% 3/4 EDIT “By the end of Forbes' brisk, economical portrait, Atwater has been revealed as a repugnant and pathetic soul--and a political visionary, among the first to fully understand and harness the raw power of voters' fears.” – Chicago Tribune Oct 31, 2008 Full Review The Secret Life of Bees (2008) 60% 2/4 EDIT “Sweat and good intentions, however, will take you only so far. And they take Bees right up to the threshold of entertaining%u2014but not one step further.” – Chicago Tribune Oct 20, 2008 Full Review America the Beautiful (2007) 73% 2/4 EDIT “Despite the occasional flash of insight, and a few semi-shocking factoids, most women are going to find this movie roughly as illuminating as a remedial math class might be for a Nobel-prize winning physicist.” – Chicago Tribune Oct 18, 2008 Full Review Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden? (2008) 38% 1/4 EDIT “Morgan Spurlock is a living, breathing cautionary tale. Take a good, long look, kids: This is what happens when society validates really annoying people.” – Chicago Tribune Oct 18, 2008 Full Review The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008) 66% 3.5/4 EDIT “Like its predecessor, Sisterhood 2 is based on two radical ideas: namely, that young women's stories are about more than the pursuit of men, and that happiness isn't something someone else gives you -- it's something you have to find for yourself.” – Chicago Tribune Aug 7, 2008 Full Review Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008) 80% 2.5/4 EDIT “I predict with great confidence that the big-screen debut of the American Girl brand will be a resounding success. This rosy prediction is based partly on the fact that Kit Kittredge is a solidly made movie...and partly on the fact that the America” – Chicago Tribune Jun 19, 2008 Full Review The Strangers (2008) 50% 3/4 EDIT “Anchored by convincing performances from Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler, both of whom elevate their roles above the standard horror-movie caricature, this is an enormously unsettling movie.” – Chicago Tribune May 29, 2008 Full Review Sex and the City (2008) 49% 3.5/4 EDIT “Witty, effervescent and unexpectedly thoughtful, the big-screen iteration of the HBO series stands up beautifully (and somewhat miraculously) to the twin pressures of popular expectation and critical assessment.” – Chicago Tribune May 28, 2008 Full Review The Singing Revolution (2006) 83% 3/4 EDIT “As far as the plot goes, widespread lack of familiarity with Estonia's recent history actually works in the film's favor: Suspense born of ignorance lends the unfolding drama the urgency of a political thriller.” – Chicago Tribune May 22, 2008 Full Review How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer (2005) 79% 3/4 EDIT “Unlike so many of her peers who depend on music to do everything but deliver the dialogue, [director] Riedel isn't afraid of silence; early in the film there's a solid minute of noiselessness as the camera lovingly pans the town, establishing the story's” – Chicago Tribune May 15, 2008 Full Review Before the Rains (2007) 51% 2/4 EDIT “The problem isn't just that the material is cliched and vaguely offensive....It's more that the plot is incredibly predictable, the score is manipulative and the denouement completely unsatisfying.” – Chicago Tribune May 15, 2008 Full Review 2/4 EDIT “On behalf of every woman who's ever turned down that second piece of cake or spent far too much on anti-aging creams, I want to say: Welcome, Darryl. I hope you'll invite other men on your overdue journey to Obvious Town.” – Chicago Tribune May 8, 2008 Full Review Young at Heart (2007) 90% 3.5/4 EDIT “A chorus (average age 80) prepares for a springtime tour, putting their signature spin on classics--classics like The Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go."” – Chicago Tribune Apr 18, 2008 Full Review Teeth (2007) 79% 2.5/4 EDIT “Given how thoroughly all the subtext spells out the message, then, it seems unnecessary to make the actual text so raw, grotesque and graphic. Granted, a horror movie about vagina dentata was probably never destined to be tasteful, but Lichtenstein's comp” – Chicago Tribune Mar 27, 2008 Full Review Stop-Loss (2008) 64% 2.5/4 EDIT “Peirce's obvious respect for the returned soldiers should prevent Stop-Loss from being dismissed as a Hollywood anti-war screed. It's more accurately described as an anti-war movie with a resolutely pro-troop message.” – Chicago Tribune Mar 27, 2008 Full Review The Band's Visit (2007) 98% 3/4 EDIT “You can watch The Band's Visit for its political idealism, or you can watch it for entertainment value alone. In either case, it doesn't disappoint.” – Chicago Tribune Mar 6, 2008 Full Review The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) 43% 2.5/4 EDIT “Sticklers for historical accuracy are forewarned: This glossy production plays fast and loose with the facts, abbreviating, altering and excising entire character arcs and plot lines.” – Chicago Tribune Feb 28, 2008 Full Review The Hottie & the Nottie (2008) 6% .5/4 EDIT “Heidi Ferrer's screenplay...succeeds at just one thing: trumpeting one of the most anti-feminist messages in recent film history.” – Chicago Tribune Feb 7, 2008 Full Review First Sunday (2008) 12% 2/4 EDIT “The movie's total lack of focus and its unimpressive script should render it totally unwatchable. Weirdly, that doesn't quite happen.” – Chicago Tribune Jan 11, 2008 Full Review The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (2007) 74% 2.5/4 EDIT “A sweet, familiar story, beautifully filmed and lovingly told.” – Chicago Tribune Dec 25, 2007 Full Review P.S. I Love You (2007) 25% 2/4 EDIT “Snippets of sharp, witty dialogue are lost in a sea of sappy clichés and too-cute-for-words plot twists.” – Chicago Tribune Dec 21, 2007 Full Review
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