"Mouse Hunt" received mixed reviews from film critics. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 42% of 31 critics had given the film a positive review. The critic consensus reads: ""Mouse Hunt" gets trapped under the weight of its excessive slapstick antics." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. Roger Ebert gave the film two stars, calling it "not very funny, and maybe couldn't have been very funny no matter what, because the pieces for comedy are not in place... A comedy that hasn't assigned sympathy to some characters and made others hateful cannot expect to get many laughs, because the audience doesn't know who to laugh at, or with." Though partner Gene Siskel liked the film.