According to Lily Tomlin, Ben Stiller and David O. Russell did not get along and had many heated arguments.
Was chosen by Time Magazine as one of the "Best of Film 1996" at position #7 in the in their year end review issue dated December 23, 1996.
The film cast includes one Oscar winner: Patricia Arquette; and six Oscar nominees: Josh Brolin, Alan Alda, Richard Jenkins, George Segal, Mary Tyler Moore and Lily Tomlin.
Dick Van Dyke was offered the role of Richard Schlichting. Originally, Mary Tyler Moore was to play the role of his wife Mary as a tribute to The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961), but she eventually switched roles in order to portray Pearl Coplin.
Included among the American Film Institute's 2000 list of the 500 movies nominated for the Top 100 Funniest American Movies.