 Megan Lehmann, writing in "The Hollywood Reporter", said that the film "defies all but the most cynical not to get carried away by the force of its grandiose imagery and storytelling", and it is "much less earnest than the trailer suggests, layered with a thin veneer of camp and a nod and a wink to accompany the requisite Aussie clichés", and the bottom line is "In epic style, Baz Luhrmann weaves his wizardry on Oz".Roger Ebert gave the film 3 stars out of 4, noting "Baz Luhrmann dreamed of making the Australian "Gone with the Wind", and so he has, with much of that film's lush epic beauty and some of the same awkwardness with a national legacy of racism".David Ansen, in his review for "Newsweek", wrote, "Kidman seems to blossom under Luhrmann's direction