The film was more poorly received by critics than
Three Card Monte.
Jay Scott of
The Globe and Mail wrote that "by the time the climax has rolled around, there have been a number of good performances (
Susan Hogan,
Jack Duffy,
Taborah Johnson,
Sean McCann) and many demonstrations of first-rate composition, rhythm and editing. But there have also been continuity and emphasis miscalculations — a strike at Curtis' bakery is introduced and then dropped, and the movie rushes by Curtis' fate (he's flamboyantly sleazy enough to care about) in favour of letting Gabourie twinkle his way into a big-star farewell. It took years for
Jack Nicholson to reach the audience-patting excess of ''
Goin' South''; Gabourie has turned into the actor's version of a used car salesman after two movies." In his 2003 book
A Century of Canadian Cinema,
Gerald Pratley described the film as disappointing, boring and filled with unlikable characters. ==References==