Rita Kempley of "The Washington Post" called the film "a consistent character study, paced like a good thriller" and cited Barbra Streisand's "bravissimo performance". She added, "She is so dazzling, in fact, that she blinds us to the pat psychology of the facile script ... There's heat in the moment, but there's nothing to chew on afterward ... "Nuts" is less than the sum of its illustrious parts. Despite all its achievements, it's ultimately hollow inside, like a cake at a bachelor party. The filmmakers never quite succeed in their larger purpose: pitting inner truths against outward appearances to force us to decide who is and is not nuts. It wants to be a movie with a message, but in the end it's just a melodrama." Desson Howe of "The Washington Post" said of the film, "t's Hollywood manipulation at its best. You're given little emotional tidbits along the way until the high point."