Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars, praising its humor and quirkiness and describing it as "well-intentioned in its screwy way, with flashes of human insight, and actors who can take a moment and make it glow." Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" also rated it three stars out of four, praising Holmes for her performance which he described as holding the film together, while Carla Meyer of the "San Francisco Chronicle" called the film "both heartfelt and tough-minded", praising Holmes and describing Clarkson's performance as "her finest among about 100 fine Clarkson performances in the past few years".