In an interview, Hal Hartley once explained that he made the movie on the spur of the moment because he wanted to work with Shelly again immediately after making The Unbelievable Truth (1989), so he had very little money and very little time. The movie was shot in 11 days. The reason he could do that, he said, was because so much of the direction was implied in the dialogue. The dialogue pretty much told the actors what to do.
At Matthew's place, Maria picks up and takes with her a book titled "Man and the Universe," by Ned Rifle, which is a pseudonym used by director Hal Harley as well as the title of one of his films.
Martin Donovan was cast as Matthew after Hal Hartley and Adrienne Shelly saw him in a performance at the CucarachaTheatre stadium.
Even though she plays a teenager in it, when this movie was filmed Adrienne Shelly was actually 24 years old.