The press disagreed on the satire of Erhard in the film, some praising it, some not. "The Wall Street Journal" criticized the film, save for its satirical nature: "The movie isn't much - an erratic ramble - but it has some pleasant moments, and a delicious send-up of the self-improvement guru Werner Erhard." "The Charlotte Observer" praised Bert Convy's portrayal of the self-help guru Frederick Bismark, and called Convy: "… a hilariously smug consciousness-raiser with a more than passing resemblance to EST's Werner Erhard". "Magill's Survey of Cinema" described the film as a chiding of American "religious fads and philosophies", and "The Grove Book of Hollywood" called it a "cheeky film" that poked fun at the "est" craze and other human potential fads. "TIME" called the film one of 1977's best comedies, and also noted that it was: "without a doubt the year's most socially useful film".