Roger Ebert compared the film negatively to Sidney Lumet's similarly themed Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, adding: "The Lumet film uses actors who don't look like brothers but feel like brothers. Allen's actors look like brothers but don't really feel related."
Roger Ebert criticized the film negatively in comparison to Sidney Lumet's movie Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, stating that while Lumet's film used actors who didn't resemble each other but conveyed a sense of familial connection, Allen's film featured actors who looked like brothers but lacked a genuine sibling bond.