Widely recognized as the first Asian-American narrative feature to gain theatrical distribution.
Picked by Entertainment Weekly magazine as one of the "50 Greatest Independent Films" in a special supplement devoted to independent films that was only distributed to subscribers in November 1997.
To keep production costs down, this feature was shot on 16mm film. A blowup was used to create a 35mm negative for theatrical showings. This also meant that release prints were in the standard academy (1.33:1) format at a time when nearly all commercial theatrical releases were in spherical or anamorphic widescreen.
This film was selected to the National Film Registry, Library of Congress, in 1995.
Wood Moy, who plays Jo, is rather short while Marc Hayashi, who plays Steve, his son, is comparatively tall. This created a "Mutt and Jeff" duo that added to the comedy elements of the film.