When released, this was the only John Grisham movie not adapted from one of his novels. Instead, it was from an original screenplay from Grisham.
The screenplay is credited to "Al Hayes". This pseudonym covers for John Grisham, who objected to the foul language that Altman added to his original screenplay.
Robert Altman said that one of the reasons he took on this movie was because he had never directed a thriller before, and wanted to give the genre a try.
After Altman's cut of the movie scored low in test screenings, PolyGram took it from him and re-cut it. This prompted Altman to demand that his name be removed from the credits. Then, however, PolyGram's re-cut version tested even worse, so Altman's cut was restored. The movie opened in New York City to largely good reviews.