Most critics respond warmly to Gun Crazy, with praise concentrated on Joseph H. Lewis’s charged direction, the inventive camerawork and Peggy Cummins’s performance. The bank robbery filmed in a continuous take from inside the getaway car is a recurring example of the film’s confidence and resourcefulness. Cummins’s allure and volatility give the crime story much of its force. Several reviews also find emotional sensitivity and unexpected complexity beneath the lurid lovers-on-the-run premise.
The spread is wide, although the disagreement comes chiefly from one negative review rather than a broadly divided consensus. Variety enjoys the fast-moving chases and finds the latter half exciting, but regards the film as cold and emotionally shallow, blaming writing and direction that remain on the surface. That objection runs directly against the emotional depth other critics find in the central relationship; most see more here than stylish criminal adventure.