Tobey Maguire first auditioned for the part of Toby but director Michael Caton-Jones thought he wasn't right for the role. Leonardo DiCaprio, who is close friends with Maguire, still wanted him to be a part of the film so he got him the role of Toby's friend Chuck Bolger.
Leonardo DiCaprio admitted that when filming the scene in which Toby finally defies Dwight, he screamed "Noooo!" at the top of his lungs, which cracked up the cast and crew.
Both Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire later starred in films directed by Sam Raimi. Dicaprio in "The Quick and the Dead" and Maguire in the "Spider-Man" films.
In the film, the children of Concrete go to high school in Chinook, as there is no high school in Concrete. In fact, Chinook is 268 miles away from Concrete, on the opposite end of the state.
Speedometer on car reads the same when Dwight Hansen drives erratically to scare Tobias and then later on when Tobias takes Dwight's car for a joy ride; also the speedometer says speeds of 70 mph plus yet the odometer never moves.
Tobias 'Toby' Wolff: It was 1957. We were driving from Florida to Utah. After my mother was beaten up by her boyfriend, we got in the Nash and high-tailed it for the uranium fields. We were gonna get rich and change our luck, which hadn't been so hot since our family broke up five years back.
Dwight Hansen: You don't know it yet, but me and Concrete are in your blood. We'll make a man of you yet. In years to come you'll thank me. You'll remember me... me and Concrete!