The movie was about opposition to mining in Montana. According to Larry McMutry, the film took eighteen years to get made and by the time it did, he was off the project. He later wrote, "I never saw it but understand it was pretty good. The fact that it did finally get made was because Ted Turner acquired a big ranch in Montana and was seeking tax write-offs. It began as a virtuous little film, which is possibly why I had trouble getting in sync with it. I have never, I suppose, been a particularly good citizen, especially not when citizenship interferes with the attempt to make art."[4]