The film received generally poor reviews. Caryn James wrote: "When it's time to look back on the strange sweep of Clint Eastwood's career, from his ambitious direction of
Bird to his coarse, classic
Dirty Harry character,
Pink Cadillac will probably settle comfortably near the bottom of the list. It is the laziest sort of action comedy, with lumbering chase scenes, a dull-witted script and the charmless pairing of Mr. Eastwood and Bernadette Peters." (
New York Times, May 26, 1989.) Hal Hinson praised the performers: Peters "...plays her comic scenes with a vivacious abandon..." She "loosens him (Eastwood) up... and humanizes him. These two make a nifty comic team."
Pink Cadillac was released in May 1989, opening against
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The film eventually grossed $12,143,484. In contrast, the movie Eastwood made just prior to
Pink Cadillac, the fifth Dirty Harry movie,
The Dead Pool, grossed $37,903,295. Perhaps due to the poor reviews and meager box office, the film is, as of 2021, Eastwood's last action comedy. It has a 24% rating on
Rotten Tomatoes from 21 reviews. It also went direct to video in the United Kingdom, without a cinema release. ==References==