The film holds the record for the highest-rated made-for-television movie on any network since 1991.
Matthew Modine remained in character all through filming. He rode his bike around the locations and never spoke, instead writing in a notepad just as Sammy did.
The musical leitmotif heard throughout the film is "My Ship," composed by Ira Gershwin and Kurt Weill. At the end of the film it is sung by Bernadette Peters, who plays Helen Ayers at the beginning of the film.