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What that scene says is that no one—not even the semi-tough-minded among us—is immune to the absurdities of ideologies that hold out a promise of instant salvation. On a slightly deeper level, the movie is warning us to beware celebrities bearing false prophecies. Because of the absorption in self and craft that their work requires, performers—be they actors or athletes—can be easy converts, and therefore untrustworthy in their wayward enthusiasms for abstract realms. On the more positive side, the picture suggests that if salvation is to be had, it lies in that pragmatic resistance to the con that has traditionally characterized the American spirit and is so charmingly exemplified by Reynolds.
All the leading players are nice to hang out with, though Clayburgh, who blends something of Carole Lombard and Jean Arthur, deserves special mention. The script talks R-rough, but there is sweetness as well as smartness in it. The acute observation of cult behavior, not to mention the sporting life, suggests painful research somewhere along the way. The picture is, above all, a principled comedy, speaking lightly but honestly about life as it is—and what it might be—in our times. That sets Semi-Tough apart from anything else in recent memory.
—Richard Schickel