Roger Ebert, in his review for the Chicago Sun-Times, wrote, "At the end of California Split we realize that Altman has made a lot more than a comedy about gambling; he's taken us into an American nightmare, and all the people we met along the way felt genuine and looked real." Lauding the film as "a great movie and [...] a great experience, too," he awarded it a full four stars.[10] Vincent Canby in The New York Times called it "a fascinating and vivid movie, not quite comparable to any other movie that I can immediately think of."