36
Metascore
19 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 63Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertIn Bird on a Wire, director John Badham doesn't pay the dues before he brings in the exotic locations. We don't believe the characters, and so the elaborate chases and escapes and stunts and special effects are all affectations.
- 63Boston GlobeJay CarrBoston GlobeJay CarrBird on a Wire is pedal-to-the-metal moviemaking by the numbers. What it's got going for it is that Goldie Hawn is cute and Mel Gibson is cuter as they struggle to mate screwball comedy to a chase thriller. The pleasant surprise is that Gibson has a flair for light comedy and the timing to bring off double-takes. It's a relief, too, because little else in Bird on a Wire is fresh. [18 May 1990, p.77p]
- 60EmpireWilliam ThomasEmpireWilliam ThomasDespite the extended running time jam packed with action scene after after scene it still feels a little short on content.
- 50Washington PostDesson ThomsonWashington PostDesson ThomsonScrewball romance, action picture. Summer movie.
- 40Washington PostHal HinsonWashington PostHal HinsonBird on a Wire lords its star power over us; it thinks the sheer cumulative adorableness of the principals will win us over and make up for its multitude of sins. It should think again. There is nothing to this John Badham movie except the spectacle of determined stars turning the brilliance of their personalities on us. That and chases -- car chases, motorcycle chases, airplane and helicopter chases.
- 40Time OutTime OutWithin the first half-hour, we've met the baddies (led by a taciturn Carradine), heard Rick and Marianne's teasing banter, and experienced the thrills of a shootout and car chase. As for what follows, this drearily repetitious film offers more of the same with variations in backdrop, all directed in perfunctory fashion by Badham. It does have a nice '60s soundtrack; shame about the rest.
- 40Los Angeles TimesPeter RainerLos Angeles TimesPeter RainerBoth frenetic and witless--a bad combination. It's the sort of action-comedy vehicle that stands a chance of succeeding only if the star chemistry is strong enough to compensate for all the uninspired calisthenic derring-do.
- 25TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineBig, dull, and noisy, this comedy-romance has chases galore, but its comedy is flat and its romance is grating and graceless.
- 25Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanBird on a Wire is far from inept-every one of those car chases is masterfully staged. Still, for most of two hours you’re pummeled with formula; it would be hard to name another movie at once so proficient and so dull. When a director as talented as Badham reaches this state of empty craftsmanship, who can say whether he’s working out of boredom or cynicism? At this point, there may be very little difference.
- 25Chicago TribuneDave KehrChicago TribuneDave KehrCrass, shoddy and crudely exploitative of the public's worst instincts, John Badham's Bird on a Wire reflects just about everything that's wrong with American movies right now.