After persuading an unwilling Mattie to let the pregnant Keechie stay in a cabin at her motel, Bowie, posing as a sheriff, springs Chickamaw from prison but the latter, while claiming to have merely tied the warden to a tree, has instead shot him dead.

In the final scene we see Keechie at the station, ready to take the first train out to find a place where she can have her baby.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, writing that it 'no doubt has all sorts of weaknesses in character and plot, but which manages a visual strategy so perfectly controlled that we get an uncanny feel for this time and this place'.

[3] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune awarded two-and-a-half stars out of four, saying that the film 'at least on the story level, breaks no new ground' in that the criminals' actions 'are reminiscent of Bonnie and Clyde and a host of lesser films', adding 'Indeed, the major element of surprise in Thieves Like Us is that Altman doesn't surprise us at all.

[5] Variety wrote, "Thieves Like Us proves that when Robert Altman has a solid story and script, he can make an exceptional film, one mostly devoid of clutter, auterist mannerism, and other current cinema chic.

'[7] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote, 'Demanding and subtle, a seductive reverie of a film, Thieves Like Us affirms Robert Altman's place in the front ranks of American directors.

'[8] In a negative review for The Washington Post, Gary Arnold called the film 'disappointing', writing that 'the beautiful images seem to freeze or petrify on the screen, because Altman does not bring any intensity to the narrative'.