Most critics land somewhere in the middle on Spielberg’s romantic fantasy, and the warmer notices call it entertaining despite its silliness, singling out the aerial action, which Variety finds thrilling. Empire treats it as a poignant, transitional work about loss, playful in its visuals if not one Spielberg will be remembered for. The performances draw the steadiest praise: Richard Dreyfuss for warmth and a palpable sense of loss, John Goodman for the film’s liveliest turn, with Audrey Hepburn in close competition.
The reservations cluster around sentiment and length. Radio Times thinks the film only just avoids tipping into mush; the Los Angeles Times thinks it tips straight in, dismissing it as overlong, tooth-rotting nonsense built on stale imitation, the lone outright pan. Holly Hunter’s character strikes at least one critic as gawky and ditzy early on. Three of the seven reviews cannot be read in full, so the spread may be wider than the numbers suggest.