cnn's tom charity, among others, has called "lady in the water" the worst film of 2006. it was listed by "variety" as one of the ten "biggest (financial) losers" of 2006. wesley morris of "the boston globe" wrote that though the film is "built on too much ponderous self-regard…[t]here is a good chunk of "lady in the water" that is simply too well made and affectingly acted to dismiss as a mere exercise in arrogance."