 Todd McCarthy of "Variety" wrote, "Richard Linklater's rough-hewn tapestry of assorted lives that feed off of and into the American meat industry is both rangy and mangy; it remains appealing for its subversive motives and revelations even as one wishes its knife would have been sharper ...In the end, viewers waiting for an emotional and/or dramatic payoff will be disappointed.As a call-to-arms, it's highly sympathetic but surprisingly mild-mannered."