Mrs. Winterbourne

Columbia TriStar Home Video | Release Date: April 19, 1996

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

35	METASCORE Generally unfavorable reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews

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Mixed:

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Critic Reviews

Critic score Publication By date

Jay Carr

The script is a little too clunky to serve Ricki Lake well, and Richard Benjamin's direction is a bit too sluggish to disguise her limited range as he crams this romantic fairy tale a little too forcefully into its predetermined mold. [19 Apr 1996, p.53]

David Sterritt

The comedy is appealing as Hollywood's umpteenth variation on the Cinderella story, but think about its patrician views of upper-class privilege and you might find it too simplistic for comfort. Read full review

EmpireCaroline Westbrook

It's all a little too coincidental for comfort, and surprisingly short on laughs for a comedy, but nonetheless this is a light, well-meaning flick, improved considerably by Lake's scatty heroine. Read full review

James Berardinelli

This film mistakes action for energy, ridiculous circumstances for comedy, and a mismatched male/female pairing for romance. Read full review

Janet Maslin

But the film, written by Phoef Sutton and Lisa-Maria Radano and directed by Richard Benjamin in a style cute enough to peel paint off the walls, can't do much to generate romantic sparks between its two young leads. Read full review

Susan Wloszczyna

Happily, MacLaine (who can pull off these lovable eccentric dowagers while she's sleeping) and Fraser, showcasing a previously untapped flair for romantic comedy, keep Lake on her toes. [19 Apr 1996, p.1D]

Staff (Not Credited)

As calculated as the cries of 'Go Ricki!' on its star's talkshow, Mrs Winterbourne is a sappy, old-fashioned and predictable vehicle for actress-turned-talk maven-turned-actress-again Ricki Lake that delivers requisite warmth but few laughs. Lake's ebullient charm and solid performances by Shirley MacLaine, Brendan Fraser and Miguel Sandoval provide some highlights. Read full review

Marsha McCreadie

Lake was fab in John Waters's films, especially Hairspray, but Fraser is more adroit in this screwball mode. Lake by now may be too brash and over-the-top for the big screen: too much her own persona. [23 Apr 1996]

Suzanne Tobin

In this case of mistaken identity, Ricki Lake's career takes a dubious step from trashy TV talk show to B movie. Read full review

Rita Kempley

Ricki Lake makes an appealing, though unlikely, fairy tale heroine in the derivative romance Mrs. Winterbourne: If only this stale trifle didn't call for the bewitching or pixilating, for the abracadabra of a Bullock or a Pfeiffer. For a Cinderella story, it's sorely without magic. Read full review