Metacritic reviews

Pakula's debut as a director, two years before making Klute, is one of those rare American films which manage to be gently observational without succumbing to the Europeanism of Mazursky or Cassavetes.

The Sterile Cuckoo is not as good as it should have been because it lacks consistency of tone. But parts of it are awfully good, and Miss Minnelli is one hell of an actress.

Alan J. Pakula’s directorial debut takes a done-to-death story template and revitalizes it with intelligence, maturity, and tenderness.

Unlike many first-timers (especially during the indulgent late 60s), Pakula uses understatement, avoids cinematic tricks, and carefully guides young stars Minnelli (who was nominated for an Oscar) and Burton, who was making his screen debut after starring on Broadway for three years in the title role of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown."

Director Alan J. Pakula’s first effort is so technically imprecise and understated that it has a kind of wistful charm—as if Wendell Burton, who plays the superstraight, mild-mannered preppie to Liza Minnelli’s sad, quizzical, freaked-out emotional loser, had directed and written it himself.

An interesting feature, almost a B-side to The Graduate in its way, without the predatory older characters.

Quite clearly, Pookie Adams is a marvelous role, full of tough-sweet humor, and Liza Minnelli, the daughter of Vincente Minnelli and the late Judy Garland, turns it into one of the most appealing performances of the season, a triumph limited only by the squashy movie that encases it.

It is Minnelli’s one-woman show. The 21-year-old Burton is not so much her costar as her straight man.

The movie has its moments, namely in two expert performances. [13 Nov 1969, p.60]

There is all too little here to interest an adult, let alone any veteran of the nutty-girl vs. stodgy-boy chiche. [27 Oct 1969, p.68]