Writer John Patrick Shanley said incidents in the story were based on his own experiences growing up in New York City.
Producer/director Tony Bill got involved with this project after some actors he was auditioning for another film began using scenes from the plays of John Patrick Shanley. Bill liked the dialogue, so he contacted Shanley and asked him for a film script.
The opening and closing credits feature the song "In My Life" as performed by the Beatles. One of the producers of this project was George Harrison.
After acquiring the North American distribution rights, Cineplex Odeon Films was originally set to release the film in the summer of 1987, but it was delayed and pushed to the fall of that same year. However, that release also got delayed. It was eventually released in January of 1988.