On his review of the film, critic Roger Ebert wrote "...Amanda Bynes let us say that she is sunny and plucky and somehow finds a way to play her impossible role without clearing her throat more than six or eight times. More importantly, we like her." Writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, critic Ruth Stein wrote: "Bynes displays a flair for comedy, especially when Viola studies guys walking down the street and mimics their gait and mannerisms. Bynes uses her elastic face to show Viola's every thought making the transition and doing her darnedest to pull it off... She's not going to win an Oscar for playing a boy, as Hilary Swank did; but Bynes makes a far more convincing one than Barbra Streisand in ""Yentl"."