Apparently, director Martin Ritt once said that he blamed the failure of this picture on its screenplay and its stars, Tommy Lee Jones and Sally Field, inability to get along and work well together.
According to 'TV Guide', this movie was an "attempt to recapture the mood of Frank Capra's films of the 1930s" whilst 'Allmovie' states that this picture was "Reportedly, Ritt's homage to Frank Capra's films of the 1930s."