80
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100San Francisco ChronicleBob GrahamSan Francisco ChronicleBob GrahamDon't be too quick to jump on Hurt with complaints of old-fashioned gay stereotyping. Only with a development well into the movie will the audience realize the layers he brought to Molina's role-playing.
- 90L.A. WeeklyF. X. FeeneyL.A. WeeklyF. X. FeeneyLeonard Schrader adapted the screenplay from the novel by Manuel Puig, and his fearless willingness to explore every corner of human nature serves what is greatest and sweetest in the performances of William Hurt and Raul Julia.
- 88New York Daily NewsJami BernardNew York Daily NewsJami BernardEach man winds up owing the other -- and the enormity of the sacrifices they make on one another's behalf are quite moving and have not been duplicated in the movies since.
- 88Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertTells one of those rare and entrancing stories where one thing seems to happen while another thing is really happening.
- 80VarietyVarietySome will find him (Hurt) mesmerizing, others artificially lowkeyed.
- 80New Times (L.A.)Gregory WeinkaufNew Times (L.A.)Gregory WeinkaufPowerful, sensuous and thematically hokey transsexual adventure.
- 75Chicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonChicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonOne of the most intriguing prison dramas ever put on film.
- 75Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittIt packs an emotional punch despite shortcomings of story and style.
- 70Chicago ReaderChicago ReaderThe film's theme of acceptance is undercut considerably by Hurt's overcalculated performance.
- 70Village VoiceLeslie CamhiVillage VoiceLeslie CamhiAppears strangely dated, and its unspecified location seems existentially hokey.