Stanley Kubrick praised the film on its release, particularly Burstall's direction and Jack Thompson's lead performance.
[4] Tony Petersen is an electrical tradesman and former football star who is studying arts at the University of Melbourne, and majoring in English.
Burstall wanted to make the story as the first film from Hexagon Productions and commissioned David Williamson to write a screenplay, the original title of which was Sittin' and Tony Petersen.
However Williamson was working on many projects at the time so Hexagon made two Alvin Purple films instead.
[7] Critical reception to the film was harsh;[1] however Petersen grossed $1,363,000 at the box office in Australia,[8] which is equivalent to $9,200,250 in 2009 dollars.