The film was directed by Louis Malle, and stars Amy Madigan and Ed Harris.

Future Texas A&M and Dallas Cowboys linebacker Dat Nguyen, who was aged 9 at the time has a small role as a Little League ballplayer.

A despondent Vietnam veteran in danger of losing his livelihood is pushed to the edge when he sees Vietnamese immigrants moving into the fishing industry in a Texas bay town.

As four of the tracks were non-instrumental, the album's front cover listed the names of the vocalists: Cooder, David Hidalgo, Cesar Rosas of Los Lobos, Lee Ving, John Hiatt and Amy Madigan.

In his review, Vincent Canby of The New York Times said "Like many other movies that have their origins in a general idea, which characters and their story, Alamo Bay is almost shamefully clumsy and superficial - it's manufactured 'art.'