Metacritic reviews

Silver garners a hilarious performance from Dempsey, whose charm is only surpassed by his talent for slapstick. And though she lets the movie lapse into a lengthy montage in the middle, she keeps the story's wit and romance intact to the very end. Loverboy is a movie worth falling for. [2 May 1989, p.C5]

EVERY TIME Loverboy veers toward the predictable or the situationally comedic, it rights itself. The film merits much more than a passing sigh as yet another flick for the teen audience. [2 May 1989, p.4D]

Powerhouse cameos, just enough sauce and extra anchovies that no one will be complaining about.

Lover Boy should have had the courage to admit it is hopelessly tacky.

The film's premise is hopelessly ludicrous. Plus, though Patrick Dempsey is an agile light comedian, he's hardly plausible as a lady-killer. Patrick Swayze he's not. Alfalfa, maybe.

LOVERBOY's "comedy" is a blend of genre-cliches and slapstick, and, not surprisingly, the film delivers few laughs.

The director has been able to do nothing with this wheezing script, one of the subplots of which involves Dempsey's dad believing that his son is gay. And the movie's moments of physical farce are mortifying...What makes "Loverboy"(rated PG-13 for sexual situations) such a pitiful waste is that Dempsey has so much potential charm.

Add the American work ethic to an Italian bedroom farce, give it to a director reknowned for small, natural, gently humorous films, and you come up with Loverboy, a comedy that is more often distasteful than funny. [2 May 1989, p.7C]