Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film three out of four stars and wrote that Judge: "Treats his characters a little like cartoon creatures. That works. Nuances of behavior are not necessary, because in the cubicle world every personality trait is magnified, and the captives stagger forth like grotesques." In his review for the "San Francisco Chronicle", Mick LaSalle writes, "Livingston is nicely cast as Peter, a young guy whose imagination and capacity for happiness are the very things making him miserable." In "USA Today", Susan Wloszczyna wrote, "If you've ever had a job, you'll be amused by this paean to peons."