Although Monty's bathroom monologue is similar to the racial stereotype montage in Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing (1989), it is taken almost verbatim from David Benioff's original novel. The only part not from the novel are the references to Osama bin Laden and the 9/11 attack.
Tobey Maguire bought the rights to the original novel with the intent of starring. He later decided to do Spider-Man (2002), although he did stay on this film as a producer.
Monty's line, "Champagne for my real friends, and real pain for my sham friends," is a quote that is often attributed to Irish painter Francis Bacon.
Writer David Benioff said in a BBC interview, "The first time I saw [Edward Norton] on set he pulled back his hair and showed me his widow's peak. In the book, Monty Brogan has a widow's peak, but I hadn't mentioned it in the script. But Edward so wanted to be in character that he wore a prosthetic widow's peak for the entire shoot."
Spike Lee: [glide] In the scene right after Jacob leaves the bathroom, he is seen motionless with the the background slowly panning out. Spike Lee often places actors on dollies to achieve this effect.
Spike Lee: [basketball] Both Monty and Naturelle played high school basketball; another scene depicts a playground game. Also, Frank is reminded by his boss that they have courtside seats for an upcoming game.