Philip Hersh originally wrote the film's script,[2] but was rewritten by Thomas Hedley, later famous for writing Flashdance.

[5] Karen Black received $62,500 after winning a lawsuit against Bill Marshall, the film's producer, for violating a verbal commitment to hire her.

What we got were horribly incompetent people in top jobs, drunk most of the time, who went to Hollywood and got completely taken in by every agent in town, and in turn screwed every dentist in Canada out of $5,000 in tax-shelter investments.

[15] Fred Haeseker, writing in Calgary Herald, stated that "If Mr. Patman is a flawed picture, though, it must be counted as an honorable failure: Among the hackneyed, exploitative English-language Canadian films released this year it stands out as a truly serious movie.

"[17] Maclean's said "just when Mr. Patman threatens to turn too heartwarming, it holds back and we respond to it without that put-upon feeling that we’re being coaxed into caring.

"[18] An article in the Toronto Star from 2001 said "This notable dud was a product of Canada's notorious tax-shelter era when movies were for business write-offs rather than any creative imperative.

A feeble echo of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, the movie had a British director (John Guillermin) and an American star (James Coburn).

"[19] Filmink later called it "a really terrible movie, dull and lacking in atmosphere, the first bad picture Guillermin made in over a decade.