Stephanie Zacharek, of "Salon", viewed the film as being "an expensive-looking mess that fails to capture the mood, and the poetry, of its source material" because "good actors fighting a poorly conceived script, under the guidance of a director who can no longer make the distinction between imaginativeness and computer-generated effects." Todd McCarthy, of "Variety", felt that Jackson had undermined the "solid work from a good cast" with "show-offy celestial evocations" that "severely disrupt the emotional connections with the characters." McCarthy stated that he felt that the film, overall, was a "significant artistic disappointment." Joe Neumaier, of "New York Daily News", described Jackson as having "siphoned out all the soulfulness" that made the author's "combination thriller/afterlife fantasy a best-seller" and that the film was "a gumball-colored potboiler that's more squalid than truly mournful." Neumaier also wrote that the film and Jackson "wasted" a "good cast." Roger Ebert of "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film 1.5 stars out of 4, calling it "deplorable", and criticizing the apparent message that Susie's murder eventually made her happier. He was also critical of the film's portrayal of Heaven, which he compared to "a happy gathering of new Facebook friends". However, he praised the acting, stating that "this whole film is Jackson's fault".