So many scenes didn't make it into the movie that Jonathan Demme decided to place them at the end during the credits, to retell the story.
In the seedy, Roman-themed hotel room in which Karen and Tony have their regular tryst, the writing on the headboard reads, "Veni, Veni, Veni." This is a play on the triumphal phrase attributed to Julius Caesar, "Veni. Vidi. Vici" which translates "I came. I saw. I conquered." So, the sleazy motel room's headboard reads, "I came, I came, I came."
Mark R. Burns got the idea to write a mob movie when he was ten years old. A house in his suburban Long Island neighborhood was raided, and the father was discovered to have been in the mob.
According to Matthew Modine, he was depressed while making this film because of his rough experience making Full Metal Jacket (1987).
The filmmakers did six rewrites to convince Tom Cruise to play Mike. Cruise opted for Cocktail (1988) instead.