Pauline Kael

“Jessica Lange has a beautiful camera face that is still relatively new to the public; she has been in only three pictures--King Kong, How to Beat the High Cost of Living, and All That Jazz, where she was swathed in gauze. (She seemed to be playing Our Lady of the Oxygen Tent.) Rafelson and Mamet don't develop Cora's character--they put her through changes instead. And, whether it's lack of training or of feeling, there are times when you can almost read in Jessica Lange's eyes, "Am I getting by with this? Is it all right?" But she's still the best reason for seeing this Postman. She has a great, expressive body. Though she seemed slender and willowy in King Kong and The High Cost of Living, here she looks good-sized--muscular but rounded, and with strong flanks. She stands and walks with her rump out proudly, and it dominates the movie. You have no trouble believing that Frank has to grab her. With her short, curly blond hair, a Japanese silk wrapper pulled tight, and a lewd, speculative smile, she's both seraphic and steamy. Her closeups are sometimes unusually revealing when she's almost still, but she also has startling moments--like her agonized expression when she hears the crunch of Nick's skull. Rafelson directs Jessica Lange very skillfully in many scenes; she's wonderful when she tries to fight off Frank's first assault and then snarls, "All right, c'mon," challenging him to show her what he can do. If there's something missing--if she never quite catches fire--it's probably because of the way the film has been distanced….”

Pauline Kael
The New Yorker, April 6, 1981
Taking It All In, p 180
["Shepardize" Kael]