Editing Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (section)

==Critical reception==
[[Rotten Tomatoes]] gives the film a rating of 77% based on reviews from 26 critics with the consensus: "''Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid'' is more elaborate pastiche than uproarious comedy, but the farce works thanks to the sly lampooning of Hollywood noir and Steve Martin's performance as a goofy gumshoe."<ref>[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dead_men_dont_wear_plaid/ ''Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid''] at [[Rotten Tomatoes]]</ref> The film received a rating of 64 on [[Metacritic]].

In his review for ''[[Newsweek]]'' magazine, [[David Ansen]] wrote, "A one joke movie? Perhaps, but it's such an engaging joke that anyone who loves old movies will find it irresistible. And anyone who loves Steve Martin will be fascinated by his sly performance, which is pitched exactly between the low comedy of ''[[The Jerk]]'' and the highbrow Brechtianisms of ''[[Pennies From Heaven (1981 film)|Pennies from Heaven]]''."<ref name="Ansen, David">{{cite news
 | last = Ansen
 | first = David
 | title = This Film for Hire
 | work = [[Newsweek]]
 | date = May 24, 1982
 }}</ref> [[Vincent Canby]]'s review for ''[[The New York Times]]'' praised Martin's performance: "the film has an actor who's one of America's best sketch artists, a man blessed with a great sense of timing, who is also self-effacing enough to meet the most cockeyed demands of the material."<ref name="Canby, Vincent">{{cite news
 | last = Canby
 | first = Vincent
 | title = Steve Martin Stars in Reiner Comedy
 | work = [[The New York Times]]
 | date = May 21, 1982
 | url = https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?_r=3&res=990CEEDB143BF932A15756C0A964948260&scp=9&sq=dead+men+don%27t+wear+plaid&st=nyt&oref=login
 | access-date = 2009-11-06}}</ref> ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine's [[Richard Corliss]] wrote, "The gag works for a while, as Martin weaves his own plot-web into the 18 old movies, but pretty soon he's traveling on old good will and flop sweat."<ref name="Corliss">{{cite magazine
 | last = Corliss
 | first = Richard
 | title = White Meat
 | magazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time]]
 | date = May 17, 1982
 | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,921236,00.html
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101015073030/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,921236,00.html
 | url-status = dead
 | archive-date = October 15, 2010
 | access-date = 2009-11-06}}</ref>