 Film critics Pauline Kael and David Denby, who had been dismissive of Parker's previous films, praised "Shoot the Moon" as his best directorial effort.Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" appreciated the storytelling, stating, "Despite its flaws, despite its gaps, despite two key scenes that are dreadfully wrong, "Shoot the Moon" contains a raw emotional power of the sort we rarely see in domestic dramas.