"Gene Siskel of the "Chicago Tribune" awarded 3 stars out of 4 and wrote that the film "begins with so much promise and sustains its mood of goofy gloom for so long that it is a shame to see it run out of gas at the end," explaining that the film went nowhere with the subject of Larry's fame as a best-selling author.Janet Maslin of "The New York Times" stated, "It tries a little bit of everything, and winds up with an air of messy desperation."