"Time" magazine named it one of the top 10 worst chick flicks. According to Anna Smith of the magazine "Empire": "the film constantly falls back on its staple fairy-tale plotline, which is so resolutely traditional it should succeed in charming its target audience". Nell Minow of Common Sense Media wrote positively, stating: "is as careful a combination of ingredients as it is possible to package Everything is at the fairy tale level, which means we never dwell on troubling realities". Paul Byrnes of the "Sydney Morning Herald" said: "The script is so lazy it snores, and Wayne Wang directs like he walked onto the wrong set - true enough, in its way." Rich Cline of the webzine "Film Threat" reviewed "Maid in Manhattan" positively. Cline wrote: "When we catch ourselves sighing at the end, we get mad that we've fallen for this same old formula all over again. But mad in a nice way." Roger Ebert wrote that the film is a "skillful, glossy, formula picture, given life by the appeal of its stars".