Frustrating the therapist are objections raised by her associates, who suspect she has influenced her patient into creating her other selves, and Sybil's father, who refuses to admit his late wife was anything other than a loving mother.

In his review in The New York Times, Neil Genzlinger noted: "The film has fine performances by Tammy Blanchard in the title role and Jessica Lange as the psychiatrist.

Lange's Wilbur is unflinching and unflappable, with equal parts compassion and ambition, empathy and bitterness, while Blanchard is a marvel of physical and vocal elasticity, changing into 16 people, often several in the same conversation.

"[4] Roger Catlin of the Hartford Courant observed the film "is at once a little more true to the original, but also, at half the time, rushed ... Tammy Blanchard has the role that could be either a career-making tour de force or a showoffy mess and pulls it off.

It is an actor's dream and potential nightmare, a role that calls upon the player to shift voice, tone and personality on a dime ... Blanchard acquits herself well.

A film like this used to be showcased during sweeps, not hidden away on a Saturday night in June like some poor relation ... CBS has shown the movie, its stars, and the story extreme disrespect with this treatment.

"[6] Matthew Gilbert of the Boston Globe wondered, "Why bother taking on a classic with limited popular potential when the remake is doomed to pale creatively next to the original?