 Ebert extended his praise toward the film's acting, calling Owen's character sympathetic and Giamatti's "surprisingly, teeth-gnashingly evil".Scheck said Owen played his character "like a low-rent James Bond", and was delighted to see Giamatti cast against his usual "nerdy" on-screen persona.Conversely, a scathing review from "The New York Times" A. O. Scott called the film "a worthless piece of garbage" and said that it was one of several "witless, soulless, heartless movies that mistake noise for bravura and tastelessness for wit".