[2] The sole directorial effort of its producer, Samuel Goldwyn Jr.,[3] it stars Peter Fonda[4] and Sharon Hugueny,[5] with second leads Nick Adams and Deborah Walley.

Tarragoo's girlfriend Debbie (Deborah Walley) and her friend Pam (Sharon Hugueny), who is studying to be a teacher and lives with her widowed mother (Beatrice Straight), are frequent visitors.

Meanwhile, Eddie, with help from professors Schwartz (Malachi Throne) and Reese (Joseph Campanella), improves his educational standing by passing an exam and consults with Tarragoo and Debbie who advise him to take the morally correct path.

The review also praises Malachi Throne, Joseph Campanella and Beatrice Straight, and ends with "Best of all are Nick Adams as Fonda's roommate and Deborah Walley as his peppery, virtuous little quarry."

[20] Steven H. Scheuer's Movies on TV (1986–87 edition) gives The Young Lovers 1 star (out of 4), describing it as "pangs of first love, Hollywood-style" and concluding, As usual, the principals act more dopey than romantic".

[21] The Motion Picture Guide (1987 edition) goes half a step higher than Maltin, assigning 2½ stars (out of 5) and deciding that "This 'youth in trouble' film is hardly fresh in story content and is lacking in production values".

The review also notes that "The direction is choppy, with a somewhat confusing time frame, but the cast proves able to overcome the problems and inherent soap-opera qualities of the script".