Kimberley Jones of "The Austin Chronicle" wrote that the film "will no doubt make buckets of money, but it’ll do so without half the wit, compassion, or inspired madness of Mary". Jones complained that the plot was "mostly cookie-cutter stuff", and was offended by the portrayal of minorities, writing "gays and blacks are represented, respectively, by a squirrelly psychotic and a Jamaican house servant". Jones concluded, "A stiff drink or maybe some pharmaceutical assistance might have made me overlook the film's sour tone, or the unremarkableness of its direction."