The Bridges of Madison County (film) has a 66 out of 100 rating, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". According to Janet Maslin, "Clint Eastwood, director and alchemist, has transformed "The Bridges of Madison County" into something bearable—no, something even better. Limited by the vapidity of this material while he trims its excesses with the requisite machete, Mr. Eastwood locates a moving, elegiac love story at the heart of Mr. Waller's self-congratulatory overkill. The movie has leanness and surprising decency, and Meryl Streep has her best role in years. Looking sturdy and voluptuous in her plain housedress (the year is 1965), Ms. Streep rises
The Bridges of Madison County "The New York Times", Brigitte Weeks said that "Bridges" had appealed to "middle-aged, world-weary people" in a manner similar to the writings of James A. Michener, though it features more sexuality than Michener's books. "The Bridges of Madison County" received multiple comparisons to Erich Segal's "Love Story" (1970) for its plot and prose. For "Rolling Stone", Peter Travers said that Waller's prose was modeled on Walt Whitman's work, but instead resembled a greeting card. Travers also said that "Bridges" exists within a tradition of "great romantic crocks" like Pat Conroy's "The Prince of Tides" (1986). "The New York Times Magazine"