No written review was located; the television review praised the personalities and Gere's performance. The host guesses three or three-and-a-half stars rather than citing a confirmed score.
The middle hour is praised as the film's strongest stretch; the first nominated scene is Raymond meeting Dennis at the taco stand.
Dennis turns Raymond's insinuation about Penny into an intimate attack on his own marriage, blurring manipulation with apparent friendly advice.
Dennis's speech that all wives seek something new is a memorable part of the taco-stand encounter.
The taco-stand scene reveals Peck's real nature after earlier scenes present him as a helpful father figure to colleagues.
Dennis meets the Arrocas, fondles the wife while the husband asks him to kill his parents, and converts the secret into leverage; John Kapelos's awkwardness is praised.
The second Dennis–Raymond encounter deliberately provokes punches with explicit sexual taunts. The first encounter is considered subtler and harder to perform.
The camera pulls back during Van's phone call to reveal Penny having sex with Dennis, a shocking and sad reveal.
Dennis arranges Van's shooting, kills the shooter and finishes Van as he pleads to return to his child; the initially abusive man becomes sympathetic.
The later shootout and chase are solid additional action scenes.
Raymond's jealousy after Dennis's lunch with his wife leads to the elevator ambush and brutal sexual taunts.
Final preferences divide between the first restaurant encounter and the jealousy-to-elevator sequence, whose sudden danger resembles horror.
A new Rick Dalton acting award is proposed for Gere's taco-stand performance, especially his small gestures, coffee drinking and intimate manipulation.
Raymond quickly goes rogue, fights outside City Hall and stalks his wife rather than conducting a sound investigation.
Raymond's wife is questioned as an art dealer who can disappear for lunch and shopping, and for not warning him that his colleague requested a private lunch.
