The scene where Mack is nearly killed by a bus was taken from writer and director Lawrence Kasdan's own life.
Randle Mell, who portrays the Alley Baron, the derelict that Claire (Mary McDonnell) runs past while jogging in the back alley, is McDonnell's husband in real life.
The show-business trade paper Variety stated that "the Steve Martin character, who whines, 'Nobody in this town will admit that a producer is an artist' is a wicked caricature of action pic maker Joel Silver."