Most critics come down in favour, though few without a wince. The praise clusters on Sharon Stone, singled out again and again as the reason the film holds together, and on Verhoeven’s direction, which the admirers call ruthless and shameless and mean as a compliment. Several reviews read it as Hitchcock pushed past the point of taste. The interrogation scene draws praise even from those who dislike the rest.
The reservations gather around the plot. Critics on both sides note that the clues can be read either way and that the ending lands as arbitrary; the friendly reviews forgive this as pulp, the hostile ones do not. The Los Angeles Times finds no tension or fun beneath the bravado, and Roger Ebert calls it a machine built to toy with the audience. Empire, returning years later, finds it solid but ridiculous. The spread is wide, from dismissal to near-rave, and the later reviews are noticeably warmer than those written on release.