"Angus" received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Some critics consider the film as a superficial after-school special for its familiar underdog story and inherent preachiness. As such, it scores a 67% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 18 reviews. It was released in a wave of other obesity-related films that came out at the time, notably "Heavyweights" (1995), which went for mostly comedy, and "Heavy" (1996), which was a strong drama. It straddled the fence between comedy and drama, at points to its detriment to some critics.