---
title: "Nuns on the Run: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/nuns-on-the-run/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/nuns-on-the-run"
critics_score: 52
critics_reviews: 7
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Nuns on the Run (1990): what the critics said

Critics' score 52 from 7 reviews: 1 positive, 3 mixed, 3 negative.

The available reviews lean towards disappointment, though several find enough in Eric Idle and Robbie Coltrane’s partnership to raise a laugh. Praise centres on their comic contrast and ease together, with even less favourable notices crediting the performances for making weak material work. The nun disguises provide some amusement, but the broader agreement is that the farce delivers occasional laughs rather than sustained comic invention.

The divide is over how much those laughs compensate for familiar plotting and mechanical situations. Variety is the clearest supporter, finding the comedy enjoyable and efficiently directed, with witty double entendres, though some eyesight gags go too far. Elsewhere, complaints cluster around clichés, car chases and a lack of surprise; Empire argues that the situations underuse the leads. The spread is wide, but specific judgements are unavailable for two of the seven reviews, limiting how fully that range can be explained.

## Variety — Variety Staff

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1989. 

The review finds the comedy enjoyable and efficiently directed, with Idle and Coltrane making a convincing comic pair. It praises the wit of the double entendres but says the sight gags about one character’s poor eyesight go too far at times.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/1989/film/reviews/nuns-on-the-run-1200428298/)

## RogerEbert.com

Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 

The page content is blocked, so the critic’s verdict cannot be established. No specific praise or complaint is available to report.

[Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/nuns-on-the-run-1990)

## The New York Times

Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 16 March 1990. 

The page identifies this as a New York Times film review, but its text is inaccessible. The critic’s verdict and any specific praise or complaint cannot be determined.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/16/movies/review-film-hoods-with-a-habit-in-nuns-on-the-run.html)

## Radio Times — John Marriott

Rating 3/5. 

The review finds the farce intermittently entertaining but weighed down by clichés. It praises the natural spark between Robbie Coltrane and Eric Idle, while faulting the inane car chases and clutter.

[Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-o5ak6h/nuns-on-the-run/)

## Time Out — DW

Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 

The review finds some humour in the men’s nun disguises but says it is not enough to sustain the film. The available text singles out that comic premise as amusing, though insufficient.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/nuns-on-the-run)

## Empire — Tom Tunney

Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. 

The critic finds the comedy predictable and mechanical, with little surprise or spontaneity. They acknowledge occasional genuine giggles but complain that the scenarios fail to make the most of the leads.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/nuns-run-review/)

## Los Angeles Times — MICHAEL WILMINGTON

Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 16 March 1990. 

Wilmington finds the comedy breezy but thin, mechanical and mostly derivative. He praises the comic contrast and caricatured performances of Eric Idle and Robbie Coltrane, which help the weak material land laughs.

[Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-03-16-ca-116-story.html)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/nuns-on-the-run.md