In August The CST’s Natalie Moore proclaimed The Fugitive (1993) Chicago’s best movie. I beg to differ. The Fugitive is a classic, but here’s ten more to consider. My criteria is whether the film captured Chicago's culture, architecture and people. For a film summary check IMDb or for photos of movie locations see Filmed here- otherwise this is about capturing our beloved city.
#10 Nothing Like the Holidays (2008)
Why it rates:
Portrays Humboldt Park and Chicago’s west side parks and boulevards.
Features the same lagoon that once housed Chance the snapper.
Few Chicago movies portray Latinos as more than criminals or side characters.
Personal Connection:
The driving force of the film, Freddy Rodriguez, is a graduate of my beloved alma mater (THE Lincoln Park High School).
Filmed on 2300 block of N. Monticello, where I've attended block parties.
Why it fakes:
Humboldt Park is not a park Chicagoans would cut across as part of their daily commute to work. What bus line would you take? Only to traverse an extra four blocks across the entire park.
They used the term bodega, this ain't New York! We call it a Food and Liquor, the Arab store or the corner store.
Why it rates:
Kurt Russell’s character lives in a bungalow, and the view of him fixing his roof is masterful.
Multi-generational brothers serving in the Chicago fire department.
Features Irish-American staples such as the Emerald Society’s Drums & Bagpipes and the Trinity Academy of Irish Dance.
A Chicago firefighter who drinks and has marital problems? That's a little too close to home.
Personal Connection:
Brothers Baldwin and Russell. Reminds me of my brother Matt and me, who exchanged our share of blows and brawls in our youth.
Why it fakes:
A funeral procession down Michigan Avenue? Please. No firefighter lives in the gold coast and the city is not shutting down it’s economic engine for a fallen hero.
Enough already with the crooked Chicago Alderman character!
#8 Running Scared (1986)
Why it rates:
Filmed in an Uptown SRO, a forgotten history of the neighborhood.
Scaling the glass exterior of the State of Illinois building, now the Thompson Center.
Showing more of Uptown and Lakeview 6-flats and the densely populated pre-gentrified community.
Personal Connection:
As a member of the Lincoln Park High School mixed choir we sang Christmas songs each year at the Thompson Center rotunda.
Thompson Center's food court was my lunch spot for any downtown field trip.
Why it fakes:
I know CPD detectives, and they would never scale a building to solve a crime. Shout out to Tom McD and Eric R.
#7 Love Jones (1997)
Why it rates:
Lorenz Tate rides his motorcycle, with Nia Long, wrapped around his body, on Lake Shore Drive, making tight turns along Oak Street Beach.
A scene under a viaduct, in Chicago viaducts serve as boundaries between neighborhoods. In this case it’s protection from the rain.
The neighborhood record shop of a bygone era when Chicago had iconic spots like George’s Music room , Disco City , and Coop’s Records .
Step Dancing at the Blackstone hotel.
Personal Connection:
I’ve partied at the Wild Hare reggae club in Wrigleyville. And just like the movie, I went on an impulse seeking a late hours spot with music and dancing.
Why it fakes:
Lorenz Tate runs through Union Station to stop Nia Long from going to NYC. First of all, who takes Amtrak to get to New York? Second, this scene was already done in Carlito’s Way 1997- played out.
Nina and her girlfriend taking a cab in the middle of the day. We are not New York City, Chicagoans only take cabs when we are too drunk to drive home.
#6 Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
Why it rates:
Using the name of a sausage king (Abe Froman) to get a table at a fancy restaurant, that’s Chicago!
Going to Wrigley Field for a day game when there were no lights.
Harry Caray’s voice on the broadcast.
The valet's joy ride show's the old south loop with abandoned lots and gravel roads.
Personal Connection:
I ditched school, but lacked motivation to do everything Ferris did. Instead I went to my mom’s house and watched it on my VCR.
Why it fakes:
Ferris tells the valet, “You speak English?” is cringe worthy. BTW, Richard Edson is the same actor that plays Pino in Do The Right Thing (1989).
#5 My Bodyguard (1980)
Why it rates:
Lakeview High School's depiction was more like my experience than any movie.
The fight scene at the Lincoln Park zoo lagoon.
Shows the pre-gentrified Uptown and Lakeview which faced rampant arson.
Shows the old Maxwell Street area where the bodyguard lives.
Dives and hot dog stands that catered to high school students, with five kids at a table splitting one order of fries.
Personal Connection:
I moved out of Lakeview in 1979 because someone was shot on our block.
I was 5’ 3” as a freshman and was bullied in the locker room, just like the main character.
Why it fakes:
The bodyguard walks from Lakeview HS at Irving and Ashland to his home in the Maxwell street area at Roosevelt and Halsted.
#4 The Untouchables (1987)
Why it rates:
Connery prays at Our Lady of Sorrows and Costner takes a blood oath.
Connery’s quote, “They send one of yours to the hospital, we send one of theirs to the morgue - that’s the Chicago way!”
The scene on the lower level of the Michigan Avenue bridge as Sean Connery patrols and Kevin Costner is distraught.
Classic scenery of the iconic Chicago trunnion bascule bridges - shout out to all those iron workers that keep our river moving.
Personal Connection:
Sean Connery’s character has a St Jude medallion, so when I picked my confirmation name - yup, St Jude!
The Union station steps with the baby carriage. I've stood on those steps and imagined Andy Garcia shooting a mobster in the temple while holding the bookkeeper hostage.
Why it fakes:
Sean Connery is not Irish and Andy Garcia is not Italian.
Kevin Costner is too corny to ever represent authentic Chicago.
#3 Above the Law (1988)
Why it rates:
St. Mary of the Angels church, which towers over the Kennedy.
Much like My Body Guard, it features the LP zoo lagoon and a payphone (what happened to all of them?)
Fulton Meat Market shootout scene, now that the area is trendy for dining and boutique hotels.
Pre-gentrified areas along Milwaukee Avenue in Wicker Park Bucktown, with Hollywood Cleaners (recently closed) making an appearance.
Can’t beat the depiction of the elevated train at Damen and North Ave.
The actor who plays a cop, Ron Dean, also played a cop in The Fugitive.
Personal Connection:
I bought furniture on Milwaukee Avenue in the 1980’s.
In 2000 I bought a leather couch on Harlem Ave and the sales associate told me, “You won’t find this type of leather on Milwaukee Avenue.” He knew just what to say, sold!
Why it fakes:
Steven Seagal plays Nico Toscani, and he’s not Italian.
I’ve never seen a Chicago cop as attractive as Pam Grier.
#2 Hoop Dreams (1994)
Why it rates:
The Cabrini Green row houses are now vacant, but we can see them in full force.
Chicago legends Isaiah Thomas, Juwan Howard and Tommy Kleinschmidt are featured.
Playing at the now demolished Amphitheater.
Arthur Agee shopping for gym shoes along Madison and Pulaski.
Personal Connection:
As a Crane teacher, I experienced the glory years of the Chicago Public League’s Red-West.
Crane vs Marshall rivalry, with Marshall's Pat Beverly and Crane's Sherron Collins squaring off, each time it was personal.
Why it fakes:
Were Gates and Agee actually friends? Those scenes appear to be staged when they interact.
#1 Cooley High (1974)
Why it rates:
Playing basketball on the same court where Jordan created a poster.
Capturing Cabrini Green full of life and promise, along with the perils of urban poverty.
The car chase scene on an abandoned Navy Pier is an iconic reminder of the city’s transformation from post industrial to Midwest opulence.
Personal Connection:
Cutting class to go to the Lincoln Park Zoo.
I went to school on North and Halsted, went to the New City YMCA and the Eisenberg Boys Club - all on the outskirts of where the movie was filmed.
I caught the Brown Line at the Sedgwick stop where Cochise was killed.
Why it fakes:
Teachers smoking weed in the school, that’s too much. As a former CTU rep, he would have been fired.
Any depiction of Cooley High should include their rivalry with Waller High School, now Lincoln Park High School.
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