Eugene Hutz's band Gogol Bordello appears as the polka band that greets Elijah Wood at the train station.
Although set in Ukraine, the film was largely shot in the Czech Republic. This is most visible at the end of the film when Vystaviste, a famous exhibition ground in the north of Prague, is used as the Lviv train station.
The magazine that Alex and his brother are looking at actually reads "Large Furniture."
The blue car used throughout the movie is a Trabant 601 Kombi/Estate.