Not a Pup, it's a Shasta Throughout the film, a friendly dog named Shasta interacts with cast members or lies around in the background of scenes. The lovable Golden Retriever was introduced to the cast and crew when filming first began to acclimate it to the set environment. The trainers would put the dog on its mark and stand off-camera using a combination of verbal cues and hand signals to get the dog to achieve certain actions. In fact, the dog had so much fun wrestling on the ground with Kevin Spacey in one scene that they both continue their playful romp after the director's "cut!" Blue Bird of Happiness A patient looks out the window of the hospital and sees a blue jay on a tree branch. There are several views of this bird flying from branch to branch and finally flying away as others come to the window to look. This bird was not real, but actually generated by a computer. Ahhhh....the wonders of movie magic!