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Jeffrey Westhoff

Tomatometer-approved critic
Biography:

Jeffrey has been reviewing films professionally since he was a senior in high school and wrote reviews for his home-town paper, the Erie Times News. He earned his degree in journalism at Marquette University, where he wrote reviews for the school newspaper, the Marquette Tribune. Most recently he was the film critic for the Northwest Herald in Crystal Lake, Illinois, and continues to submit reviews to the Northwest Herald and its sister paper, the Kane County Chronicle Jeffrey placed second in the 2002 and 2003 Illinois Press Association competitions for reviews (Division E). In 2005 and 2006 he was a finalist in the Chicago Headline Club's prestigious Peter Lisagor Award. For both years he was the only Chicago-area film critic nominated in the entertainment writing category. He has served as a board member for the Chicago Film Critics Association.

Favorites:

"On Her Majesty's Secret Service" "It's a Wonderful Life" "Gregory's Girl" "Heaven Can Wait" "Babe" "A Man for All Seasons"

Location:

Palatine, IL

Official Website:

http://www.nwherald.com

Reviews

Movies TV Shows
Misery (1990) 87% EDIT “The result is a film both unnerving and thought-provoking. It's what a horror film ought to be.” – Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) Jan 22, 2026 Full Review True Lies (1994) 77% EDIT “All the thrills and stunt work can't erase the indignities Cameron puts Curtis through. ” – Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) Dec 10, 2025 Full Review Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) 91% EDIT “This is the "Gone With the Wind" of action films; it's Indiana Jones on amphetamines. ” – Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) Dec 9, 2025 Full Review Casper (1995) 59% 3.5/4 EDIT “With a skillful balance of wit, action and pathos, "Casper" succeeds where "The Flintstones" failed. Forgive the pun, but "Casper" fleshes out the friendly ghost, brining new emotional strength to an old cartoon character.” – Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) Sep 30, 2025 Full Review Requiem for a Dream (2000) 80% 2/4 EDIT “[By the end of the film,] all [Darren Aronofsky] can do is hammer the audience with his characters' pain orchestrating a crescendo of desperation that mistakes sadism for art.” – Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) Aug 22, 2025 Full Review Babe (1995) 98% 4/4 EDIT “"Babe" imaginatively brings a storybook world to life with a memorable barnyard cast and a script that is equally smart, funny, and inspiring. ” – Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) Jul 29, 2025 Full Review The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) 57% 3/4 EDIT “The Lost World may be T. rex redux, but not all the thrills are gone. Not while raptors find blundering scientists so appetizing.” – Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) Jun 30, 2025 Full Review Final Destination (2000) 50% 3/4 EDIT “The film has an intelligence and reflectiveness atypical for the genre.” – Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) May 22, 2025 Full Review Mission: Impossible II (2000) 58% 2.5/4 EDIT “If the first Mission: Impossible was confusing because the plot moved too fast, this one is confusing because the plot hardly moves. ” – Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) May 8, 2025 Full Review Mission: Impossible (1996) 67% 2.5/4 EDIT “After an hour or so, DePalma's icily precise control of his images and the beautifully fog-shrouded Prague locations no longer can cover up the lack of a coherent story.” – Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) May 6, 2025 Full Review Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) 94% 4/4 EDIT “This special edition boasts a soundtrack worthy of a place in an aural hall of fame. John Williams' famous score, an epic in itself, echoes into your soul.” – Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) Apr 22, 2025 Full Review Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) 54% 3/4 EDIT “"The Phantom Menace" doesn't rank with "Star Wars" or "The Empire Strikes Back," but it is less of a disappointment than "Return of the Jedi." The brisk story is fun and the sights are always wonderful.” – Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) Apr 16, 2025 Full Review Scream 3 (2000) 45% 3/4 EDIT “Scream 3 is certainly entertaining, but for all the talk that "all bets are off" in a trilogy's final part, it sticks surprisingly close to the rules the first two films delighted in breaking. ” – Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) Feb 20, 2025 Full Review Scream 2 (1997) 83% 3.5/4 EDIT “The most impressive thing about Scream 2 is that Craven and Williamson reach into the same bag of tricks and pull out a film even more clever than Scream. ” – Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) Feb 6, 2025 Full Review The Lion King (1994) 92% EDIT “The true reason to see The Lion King is the awe-inspiring animation. So lifelike and yet so expressive, it defies description. ” – Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) Dec 19, 2024 Full Review The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) 80% 3.5/4 EDIT “Disney's most powerful animated film since Bambi. Add a dose of the dash and sass that made Aladdin soar and you have a film that 20 years from now should be considered an authentic masterpiece. ” – Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) Dec 18, 2024 Full Review Beauty and the Beast (1991) 95% EDIT “While Beauty and the Beast is a fine holiday diversion, it hardly ranks among the pantheon of Disney's finest animated features. It's much better than, say, The Aristocats, but it's no Pinocchio, either. ” – Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) Dec 16, 2024 Full Review Scream (1996) 78% 3/4 EDIT “Scream doesn't get too complicated, which is as much a weakness as a strength. ” – Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) Oct 15, 2024 Full Review Alien Resurrection (1997) 56% 3/4 EDIT “Teamed again with cinematographer Darius Khondji, Jeunet finds a perfect home in the dark, dank Alien universe. ” – Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) Aug 6, 2024 Full Review Twister (1996) 68% 3/4 EDIT “This is a summer movie, and the thrill is the thing. Twister delivers those at a windspeed of 250 mph.” – Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) Jul 16, 2024 Full Review Seven (1995) 84% EDIT “A spectacular piece of cinema -- a vision of evil triumphant, distilled into deadly psychic poison by a world that is itself corrupt and fallen. After Alien 3, Fincher shows himself a real artist of the medium.” – Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) Mar 29, 2024 Full Review Quiz Show (1994) 97% 3/4 EDIT “Redford, known as an actor's director, draws remarkable performances from his cast. With ice-blue eyes that seem to gaze into another dimension, Fiennes creates a strong emotional core for this tale of ethical dilemmas.” – Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) Feb 10, 2024 Full Review Heat (1995) 84% 2.5/4 EDIT “It may sound cynical for an action film to condemn violence, but Mann gets away with it. Heat is a powerful, fine film. It's just too much of one.” – Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) Dec 19, 2023 Full Review Moulin Rouge (2001) 75% 3/4 EDIT “Moulin Rouge is a one-of-a-kind experiment, a glamorous old Hollywood musical seen through an MTV lens. The opening material is bravura, but the fun fades before the final note.” – Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) Sep 5, 2023 Full Review Magnolia (1999) 82% 3.5/4 EDIT “Though it can be enjoyed on many levels, Magnolia is foremost an exhibition in great acting.” – Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) Jul 14, 2023 Full Review
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