Mark Beech from Bloomberg L.P. gave a negative review of the cover, writing that Beyoncé and André 3000 "murdered" the original version and noted that F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author of the novel "The Great Gatsby" on which the film was based, would be "baffled" by it. Kathy McCabe from "The Daily Telegraph" wrote that the song was the most controversial musical moment from the soundtrack and added that it seemed "unrecognisable from the original, darker and so cut and pasted, it gives you the jitters after a couple of minutes". Keith Murphy of "Vibe" magazine described the cover version as the soundtrack's "weakest link", although he called it "credible". He added that Beyoncé sounds "way too pristine" on it and wrote, "Please avoid covering the late Amy Winehouse if you are unable to project her heartbreaking anguish." Stacy Lambe of VH1 panned the cover of "Back to Black" as "the biggest disappointment on the soundtrack". Another writer of the same website also gave it a negative review, saying "I think the arrangement of this is sleepy and practically smothers the angst out of the song. Also, Beyoncé lives such a perfect life that she can't convey the same bitter pain in her voice that Amy could."