richard harrington in his review for "the washington post" wrote, "it's all very busy, and in zucker style there seem to be 10 jokes per minute, but most fly fast and fall flat." mick lasalle of the "san francisco chronicle" felt that the film was "an audacious attempt actually to make them like they used to - with no apologies, no nostalgia. it's no masterpiece, but neither was every marx brothers movie." in her review for "the new york times", janet maslin wrote, ""brain donors" will stop at very little to get its laughs, and mr. turturro has just the right silliness for the occasion."