62
Metascore
12 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- The down-to-earth portrayals possess none of the stereotypes popular in media representations of prostitutes, and, as a result, are frighteningly realistic. A film with an interesting and provocative feminist edge.
- 80The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jay ScottThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jay ScottToo distanced to be called compassionate - the term can imply condescension - Working Girls is provocative, honest and disturbing. [15 May 1987]
- 75Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertWorking Girls is not a slick and dramatic movie. There are moments that seem forced and amateurish, and the over-all structure of the story is fairly predictable. What the movie does have, though, is the feeling of real life being observed accurately.
- 75Chicago TribuneJohanna SteinmetzChicago TribuneJohanna SteinmetzDirector Lizzie Borden sticks to the business of trying to elicit natural performances from a cast that includes Off-off Broadway actors, actors with almost no credits and, among the men, some who are not actors at all. To a remarkable degree she has succeeded, particularly in the case of Louise Smith, who plays Molly. [13 Mar 1987, p.D]
- 70Los Angeles TimesSheila BensonLos Angeles TimesSheila BensonWorking Girls, well photographed by Judy Irola (Northern Lights) will keep you brooding about its issues for days afterward--something of a tribute to its air of unquestioned reality.
- 70The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyWorking Girls, though a work of fiction, sounds as authentic as might a documentary about coal miners. The camera attends to the duties of the ''girls'' without apparent emotional response.
- 50Washington PostRichard HarringtonWashington PostRichard HarringtonWhile she demystifies prostitution, managing at times to make it seem as boring as it must often be, Borden (and cowriter Sandra Kay) make the characters almost too sympathetic.
- 40Washington PostRita KempleyWashington PostRita KempleyIt's low-budget, rough-cut documentary, stained-sheet ugly moviemaking, suited to Borden's simple-minded message.
- 40Time OutTime OutBorden's calculated dramatic reconstruction falters as one set of stereotypes is substituted for another. Wooden lines stand in lieu of dialogue, caricatures in place of characters.