In his commentary in Dutch magazine HP, author Gerard Reve was critical of the film, even though director Paul de Lussanet maintained that it was a very 'verbal movie', which did full justice to Reve's characteristically formal, archaic dialogue. In Reve's own words, "the director was a painter, the common misconception that film should have something to do with visual art. Film is performing art by photographic means, which is governed by dramatic laws. Dear Boys (1980) is a picture book, without an idea or structure to support it".