53
Metascore
13 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 70The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyBig Business, which, though it never quite delivers the boffo payoff, is a most cheerful, very breezy summer farce, played to the hilt by two splendidly comic performers.
- 70Los Angeles TimesSheila BensonLos Angeles TimesSheila BensonLike a sensational party the night before, Big Business may not bear the closest scrutiny in the cold light of day, but it gives an irresistible glow at the time. And when it gets on a roll, it's a movie with more wit to its lines and a more pungent array of them than much of the mishmash that has passed as Bette Midler's Greatest Movie Hits. [10 Jun 1988, p.1]
- 60Time OutTime OutMidler gets to play her vulgar, trashy self twice over, Tomlin introduces a little comic variety as the gutsy blue collar worker and the drippy sister, and Abrahams handles the mechanical plot with skill, if not style. The frenetic fun reduces everyone to a cipher; it's difficult to care about any of them.
- 50Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertIf there’s anything worse than a long, slow, boring buildup to a payoff, it’s the buildup without the payoff. This movie doesn’t feel finished.
- 50Washington PostRita KempleyWashington PostRita KempleyThis classic comedy of errors is over-structured by cousin-writers Dori Pierson and Marc Rubel and mechanically laid out by director Jim Abrahams.
- 50Chicago TribuneDave KehrChicago TribuneDave KehrIt's too smoothly controlled to be funny, which is Big Business's problem as a whole. [10 Jun 1988, p.A]
- 50Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittSome scenes in a Manhattan hotel have the amiable ring of old-fashioned farce to them, but most of the going is noisy and obvious. [10 Jun 1988, p.21]
- 40EmpireWilliam ThomasEmpireWilliam ThomasUltimately lost in it's own contrivances, Big Business still manages a few laughs thanks to it's big name leading lady.
- 40TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineDirector Abrahams, working on his own for the first time, has some problems with pacing and with sustaining an essentially one-joke premise that never arrives at its big payoff.