The screenplay was written in Spanish by Guillermo Arriaga but was translated in to English by Tommy Lee Jones.
Director/Actor Tommy Lee Jones gave each cast member a copy of Albert Camus' "The Stranger" to read so that they would understand alienation, a big theme in both the novel and the film.
The producers tried to sway Tommy Lee Jones from using Mexican pastel colors for the title cards, but he told them he wouldn't budge on his decision.
Tommy Lee Jones's theatrical directing debut. His only other directing credit was the TV movie Einmal Cowboy, immer ein Cowboy (1995).