Janet Maslin of "The New York Times" praised the film, saying ""Basic Instinct" transfers Mr. Verhoeven's flair for action-oriented material to the realm of Hitchcockian intrigue, and the results are viscerally effective even when they don't make sense." Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" also praised the film, saying it was a guilty pleasure film; he also expressed admiration for Verhoeven's direction, saying "cinematic wet dream delivers the goods, especially when Sharon Stone struts on with enough come-on carnality to singe the screen," and praised Stone's performance: "Stone, a former model, is a knockout; she even got a rise out of Ah-nold in Verhoeven's "Total Recall". But being the bright spot in too many dull movies ("He Said, She Said"; "Irreconcilable Differences") stalled her career. Though "Basic Instinct" establishes Stone as a bombshell for the Nineties, it also shows she can nail a laugh or shade an emotion with equal aplomb."