RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / Upcoming / Cronicas
Cronicas

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Visit Official Site External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Cronicas (2005)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
71 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:70

Fresh:50

Rotten:20

Average Rating:6.6/10

Consensus: An unsettling and absorbing cautionary tale with John Leguizamo playing an unscrupulous TV reporter who uses the medium to further his own goals.

Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

US Box Office: $138,868

Synopsis: The hot and humid village of Babahoyo, Ecuador is besieged by an elusive serial killer. The police have no clues but this mystery has become an obsession for Miami-based tabloid television reporter... The hot and humid village of Babahoyo, Ecuador is besieged by an elusive serial killer. The police have no clues but this mystery has become an obsession for Miami-based tabloid television reporter Manolo Bonilla (John Leguizamo) who is convinced breaking this story will make him a star. Bonilla has traveled to the remote village with his producer, Marisa (Leonor Watling) and cameraman, Ivan (José Maria Yazpik) to cover the story for the tabloid TV show "One Hour With The Truth". Manolo has dubbed the killer as the "Monster of Babahoyo" on the show and is determined to uncover the killer's true identity. Tension in the town reaches a boiling point when Vinicio Cepeda (Damián Alcázar), a poor traveling salesman, accidentally runs over a child, and an angry mob led by the child's father, Don Lucho (Henry Layana), attacks him in the streets. Both Vinicio and Don Lucho are arrested. Manolo, who happens to be present during the incident, interviews both men inside a jail teeming with violence. Vinicio tells Manolo that he has information about the "Monster," but in exchange for it, he wants Manolo to do a story exposing his unjust arrest to sway public opinion. After checking out Vinicio's information, Manolo immediately suspects that Vinicio himself could be the killer, but chooses not to tell the corrupt local authorities; he'd rather use the information to make a great story for his show. How far will Bonilla go to get his story? Where is the line between a journalist revealing the truth and inventing it? How powerful is the media? Palm Pictures and Anhelo Productions present CRONICAS, written and directed by Sebastián Cordero (RATAS, RATONES, RATEROS) and produced by Alfonso Cuarón (HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN, GREAT EXPECTATIONS, Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN) and Jorge Vergara (Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN) and Guillermo del Toro (HELLBOY), Bertha Navarro and Isabel Dávalos. The executive producer is Frida Torresblanco. Cinematography by Enrique Chediak. Music by Antonio Pinto. --© Palm Pictures [More]

Starring: John Leguizamo, Leonor Watling, Alfred Molina, Damián Alcázar

Starring: John Leguizamo, Leonor Watling, Alfred Molina, Damián Alcázar

Director: Sebastian Cordero

Director: Sebastian Cordero
Screenwriter: Sebastian Cordero
Producer: Alfonso Cuaron, Jorge Vergara, Guillermo Del Toro
Composer: Antonio Pinto
Studio: Palm Pictures

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
  • Cronicas Trailer
    >
1 of 1

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Reviews for Cronicas

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: NPR.org | comment Comment
10/18/08
Bob Mondello
Bob Mondello
NPR.org

Proceeds breathlessly and hysterically towards a story that in the end, seems to have hardly left the finish line.

Full Review Source: Long Island Press | comment Comment
05/24/07
Prairie Miller
Prairie Miller
Long Island Press

A blunt instrument of a tale, with considerable emotional impact.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
03/01/07
Lewis Beale
Lewis Beale
Film Journal International

full review in Greek

Full Review Source: Movies for the Masses | comment Comment
10/03/06
Joseph Proimakis
Joseph Proimakis
Movies for the Masses
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
12/24/05
Arizona Republic

...thoroughly underwhelming and surprisingly dull.

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
12/06/05
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

A riveting exploration of good and evil where the line between the two is unclear.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
11/01/05
Kirk Honeycutt
Kirk Honeycutt
Hollywood Reporter
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
10/08/05
Boston Phoenix

Nothing in this would-be thriller grabs you by the throat, never mind reaches down to your guts.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
10/07/05
Janice Page
Janice Page
Boston Globe

Leguizamo tackles his first Spanish-language role with considerable aplomb.

Full Review Source: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | comment Comment
09/30/05
Jack Garner
Jack Garner
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
09/26/05
AV Club
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
09/24/05
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

As good a commentary on our present media age as you're likely to find.

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
09/23/05
Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel

This suspenseful film and its star are as sharp as razors as they delve into the dark corners of life.

Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
09/22/05
Lindy T. Shepherd
Lindy T. Shepherd
Orlando Weekly

[Helmer] Cordero tries to humanize his monster and, as such, takes the wind out of Cronicas’s sails.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
09/11/05
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

Ecuadoran filmmaker Sebastian Cordero certainly has style to burn and has some intriguing opinions on the news media, though he could have left out some of the more melodramatic plot elements.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
09/09/05
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

What should be the movie's strength, the mano-a-mano psychological sparring between Manolo and Vinicio, fizzles out with a dispiriting and easily anticipated ending.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
09/09/05
Sean Means
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune

An ambitious social-commentary melodrama that works about half the time -- until it engages in the very behavior it sets out to condemn.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
09/08/05
Ann Hornaday
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

a gritty story about a reporter who gets carried away by his ego while he believes he is pursuing the greater good

Full Review Source: AboutFilm.com | comment Comment
09/01/05
Carlo Cavagna
Carlo Cavagna
AboutFilm.com

Cordero paints his villain with more points to ponder than his protagonist.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
08/30/05
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 >> >|
all

Latest News for Cronicas

November 09, 2005: RT Interview: "Crónicas" Director Sebastián Cordero
It played in just over 100 theaters back in July, so you can be forgiven if you haven't heard a whole lot about "Crónicas" just yet. But the Ecuadorian crime thriller... More...

See All

More Movies

Coming Soon in Australia
Tomatometer Percentage Movie Date

70% 70% Where the Wild Things Are 03/12
83% 83% Paranormal Activity 03/12
89% 89% Zombieland 03/12
76% 76% The Informant! 03/12
— The Strength of Water 03/12

What’s Hot On RT

Shock! Horror?

Shock! Horror?

Lars von Trier talks Antichrist

Avatar

Avatar

Watch an exclusive behind-the-scenes video

RT's Twilight corner

RT's Twilight corner

Everything you need on New Moon is here

Kids' Book Films

Kids' Book Films

We fly through 10 of the best

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Natalie Portman Says Kat Denning Is in Thor Source: MTV
32
  • Disney Restructuring Has Broad Implications Source: Los Angeles Times
10
  • Joel Silver Talks Ninja Assassin, Sgt. Rock, Lobo, and More Source: Collider.com
1
  • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
116
  • Idris Elba Joins Thor Source: Hollywood Reporter
112
  • Jackass 3D Coming in 2010? Source: Collider.com
32
  • 6 Reasons 'Twilight' Is Doomed Source: The Wrap
64
  • Forbes Names Hollywood's Most Overpaid Actors Source: Forbes
20
  • Chris Weitz Says He's (Almost) Done with Directing Source: Film School Rejects
26
  • Spider-Man 4 Casting Rumors Multiply Like Rabbits Source: Deadline Hollywood Daily
51
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: New Moon Shatters Records
175
  • Critics Consensus: New Moon Wanes
129
  • Tomatometer Watch: Will Twilight's New Moon Dazzle?
97
  • Total Recall: Star-Crossed Lovers
75
  • Total Recall: John Travolta's Best Movies
70
  • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
58
  • Friday Harvest: New Moon, Avatar, and more!
32
  • Critics Consensus: Flee From Ninja Assassin
19
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
12
  • Five Favorite Films With Zombieland Director Ruben Fleischer
5
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
12
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
9
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
19
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
6
  • RT on DVD: Wassup, Bruno
3
  • Scott Hicks Talks The Boys Are Back
0
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Richard Kelly chats about The Box
2
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
20
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
8
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Cronicas at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Cronicas at IGN
  • Cronicas at AskMen

Fresh Links

Featured
Dressing Wonderland
Dressing Wonderland External Link

Tim Burton's costume designer talks to Movieline about her long collaboration with the filmmaker and Johnny Depp.

Wes Anderson on Fox
Wes Anderson on Fox External Link

The director talks about puppetry perfection and his film, Fantastic Mr. Fox

Win Glee DVDs
Win Glee DVDs External Link

We've got 20 copies of the hit TV series' Pilot Episode to giveaway.

Why Don't Australians Make Sci-fi?
Why Don't Australians Make Sci-fi? External Link

The New Matilda's Lynden Barber looks at the recent success of low-budget sci-fi -- and asks the question.

Follow Rotten Tomatoes on Twitter
Follow Rotten Tomatoes on Twitter External Link

Get all the latest movie updates, reviews, interviews and features here.

Competitions
Win Star Wars prizes
Win Star Wars prizes External Link

Enough Prequel, Original Trilogy and Family Guy DVDs to fill a space cruiser

Win the entire 007 collection
Win the entire 007 collection External Link

Everything from Dr. No to Quantum of Solace could be yours.

Win Fight Club Special Editions and more
Win Fight Club Special Editions and more External Link

We're giving away the 10th Anniversary Blu-ray, plus Braveheart and the Rocky collection

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.