▁on ▁the ▁leg ends ▁of ▁the ▁Buff alo ▁Bill ▁era , ▁silly ▁when ▁it ' s ▁not ▁c yn ical , ▁dist aste ful ▁throughout ▁its ▁ 1 2 3 ▁minutes . ▁Paul ▁New man ▁has ▁rarely ▁been ▁seen ▁so ▁badly ." ▁Gary ▁Arnold ▁of ▁The ▁Washington ▁Post ▁stated , ▁" Every one ▁who ▁car es ▁about ▁Alt man ' s ▁work ▁should ▁find ▁' B uff alo ▁Bill ' ▁an ▁interesting ▁and ▁intr igu ing ▁experience , ▁but ▁in ▁the ▁last ▁analysis ▁it ' s ▁an ▁em otion ally ▁empty , ▁al ien ating ▁movie , ▁an ▁ill - ad vised ▁attempt ▁to ▁project ▁a ▁c yn ical , ▁app reh ensive ▁view ▁of ▁the ▁present ▁onto ▁the ▁past ." ▁Jonathan ▁Rosen baum ▁of ▁The ▁Month ly ▁Film ▁Bul letin ▁wrote ▁that ▁" Alt man ▁appears ▁to ▁know ▁a ▁lot ▁more ▁about ▁show ▁business ▁than ▁about ▁the ▁American ▁Indian , ▁and ▁what ▁he ▁knows ▁about ▁the ▁former ▁mainly ▁consists ▁of ▁behavior al ▁observation ; ▁by ▁scaling ▁this ▁observation ▁down ▁exclus ively ▁to ▁what ▁illustr ates ▁his ▁th esis — the ▁h ollow ▁f ak ery ▁of ▁Buff alo ▁Bill ▁and ▁his ▁follow ers — he ▁thus ▁allows ▁himself ▁pre cious ▁little ▁to ▁work ▁with , ▁them atically ▁or ▁otherwise . ▁Within ▁five ▁minutes , ▁everything ▁he ▁has ▁to ▁say ▁on ▁the ▁subject ▁is ▁apparent ." ▁ ▁Among ▁positive ▁reviews , ▁Vincent ▁Can by ▁of ▁The ▁New ▁York ▁Times ▁wrote , ▁" It ' s ▁a ▁sometimes ▁self - ind ul gent ,