Aside from the basic plot and character names, the movie has very little in common with the book on which it is based. For example, Travis is an adult in the book, and Nora is his love interest. Lem Johnson and Walt Gaines are best friends, and Tracy Keeshan is a completely unrelated character.
Paul Haggis wrote the original screenplay. By the time the movie was greenlit, the Writer's Guild strike hit and Haggis refused to do any further writing on the movie. Production was passed to Canadian producer Damien Lee who rewrote the script. Haggis read the script and took his name off it - taking credit instead as "Bill Freed", his WGA pseudonym, and insisted Damien Lee take credit for his work.
Corey Haim and Barbara Williams play son and mother in this film. A few years later, they'll play lovers in Oh, What A Night (1992).
Travis mentions that his father was in the Delta Force. In the novel, Travis himself was a former member of the Delta Force.
According to Box Office Mojo, the movie grossed $260,820 during its opening weekend, with a final domestic gross of $940,173.