Critical response to the film was generally positive. Film review site Rotten Tomatoes gave it a score of 87% based on 55 reviews. Metacritic gave it a score of 84% based on 24 reviews. Writing for the "New York Times", Stephen Holden called it a "stunner of a film" and "an astonishing directorial debut". He said that leaving characters' backgrounds and motives unexplored makes the film enigmatic. Roger Ebert said that the three stories lack "the psychological clutter of Western movies", describing this fact as a strength. In the "Boston Phoenix", Chris Fujiwara said that the film was "largely successful, describing the second segment as the highlight, and calling the final story disappointing. In "The New Yorker", Michael Sragow called the film "fierce, inspired filmmaking". Several critics described it as "Felliniesque".