The film had many detractors. Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" awarded it two out of four stars, saying the film was well-crafted but died down in the last half hour: "The film is like a crossword puzzle. It keeps your interest until you solve it. Then it's just a worthless scrap with the spaces filled in." Dave Kehr of the "Chicago Tribune" also gave a negative review, calling it psychologically empty: "Verhoeven does not explore the dark side, but merely exploits it, and that makes all the difference in the world."