Reality Bites (1994) User Reviews

Third Review... and I think I finally get it.

[morphion2 · 8/10 · 30 January 2006]

The first time I reviewed "Reality Bites" I was 15, and I had missed much of the film's point, praising it without critique. The second time was after viewing the film again a year later, upon which I began to notice things that I had naively ignored, such as just what self-centred people the characters were. I re-reviewed it, this time with an overly negative response. It was not until my third watching, and third review, of the film that I returned to my initial opinion, this time with reasons rooted in aspects of the film it had taken me 2 years to spot.

Comedy star Ben Stiller is most well known for his comic portrayals of characters cursed with incredibly bad luck (see Meet the Parents, There's Something about Mary, Zoolander). His career as a director is not nearly as extensive as that of his acting, although he has appeared in every film he's directed. For those wondering, it all started in 1994, with romantic comedy "Reality Bites".

Winona Ryder plays Lelaina Pierce, a fresh-faced college graduate who works a frustrated job as assistant producer for a cheesy talk show, while in her own time she enjoys filming her friends Vicky (Janeane Garofalo), Sammy (Steve Zahn) and good-looking rebel Troy (Ethan Hawke) in an amateur documentary on the disenfranchised lives of Generation X called 'Reality Bites'. In a mild car accident she meets Michael (Stiller), a sweet-hearted businessman, and they begin a romantic relationship, from which sparks talk of taking her documentary to the commercial network Michael works for. Amidst this, tensions between Lelaina and Troy begin to rise as his feelings for her become clearer...

"Reality Bites" is the kind of film that is prone to misperception. The movie has an under-the-radar subtlety to it that was widely missed even by advocators of the film. While the characters are given sensitive treatment in the script and in performance, they are also portrayed with the hidden agenda of satirizing the generation they exemplify and the culture of that generation. On one level this is apparent: the constant 90's culture references, quotes such as Troy's response to promptings from Lelaina while documenting him: "I am not under any orders to make the world a better place". The more hidden layer of subtlety comes in the form of the film's general Hollywood treatment and product placement: the film makers chose a undeniably commercial approach to a subject that is widely presented as such (life and love in the 1990's), while the specific matters and characters in the movie were based around independent and "un-commercial" philosophy. This means the film is, by its very nature, ironic on more than one level.

Critics of the film were mostly irritated by the main characters' stereotypical personalities and subsequently found them to be boring. This misses another of the film's points: the characters are deliberately stereotypical and too often were the naïve and condescending opinions of these characters, namely Lelaina and Troy, mistaken for the morals of the film. "Reality Bites" doesn't believe that Lelaina is a genius documentarian, it doesn't believe that Troy is a brilliant and secretly reliable guy and it doesn't believe Michael deserves the rotten deal he gets. It just shows how this kind of cultural mentality plays out in practice.

That being said, one very straight-forward quality of the film is the acting performances. All four members of the lead cast do excellent jobs; they nail their characters with succinct accuracy. Ethan Hawke is the stand out performance, as the brooding and condescending Troy, a character most unlike any of the others he has played before or since. Ryder is at her best here, in a performance topped only by that of Girl, Interrupted. Stiller, too, delivers solidly, even if the role is very similar to others he has played.

"Reality Bites" may strike a resonate note of realism for members of Generation X, but that really isn't its ultimate goal. Essentially this is a film that doesn't necessarily wear its heart on its sleeve, but serves as moderately engaging entertainment of a slightly more insightful nature than others of its kind.

the film of the 90s Grunge generation

[HelenMary · 7/10 · 11 May 2013]

I love this film; Ethan Hawke is brilliant and really does sum up the 'searcher' generation, the new Beat. Grunge in this film is typified by over-intelligent, under-achieving, dope induced philosophical musings and desire to make a difference but not knowing how to go about it in world where young people feel anonymous and disenfranchised and dealing with modern day issues; coming out, HIV tests, unemployment, friendship, love and life aspirations.

I think this is perfectly cast, loads of familiar faces, and I think this is my favourite role of Winona Ryder. Steve Zahn and Janeane Garofalo were great and the comedy, and Ben Stiller (who also directed) is good despite being an atypical role for him, and is one of his best roles. Ethan Hawke, however, is the deserved lead in this snapshot of reality, and a showcase of his band/singing. This is a well cast and performed ensemble cast production, and there are truisms left right and centre; it speaks to the heart & soul and is relevant to the 90s generation and I'm sure has relevance to later decades and has - IMHO - aged well. It is super-funny, touching and enlightening; something for everyone who's young enough and old enough. Even after 20 years it's one of my favourite films and watching it gives me such a warm feeling.

Breaks my heart every time

[craigboney · 7/10 · 16 July 2000]

I really do have difficulty with the short shrift this film seems to get. Admittedly, Ethan Hawke's appaling "I'm nuthin'" doesn't really do the film any favours but that asides, Reality Bites always has me in tears. The basic storyline, centering on a love that both people know exist but due to circumstance and fear has not manifested is so universal, and so well done. The 'my life is falling apart' endless phone calls to the psychic 0900 number part is so tragi-comedic, and the entire movie is full of continuous great scenes. Admittedly, being a single 25 year old white male who originally saw the film a few years back, I was probably caught at the optimal time for it to have an emotional impact, but I find myself going back to it again and again. Winona has never been better, and Janeane Garofalo is stunning as the low self-esteem serial one night stander with the AIDS paranoia and over-full shag book. Also, great cameos from the Soul Asylum geezer and Evan Dando's stunning turn during the end credits add to the film. Overall a stunning film, admittedly which will probably only be appreciated by a relatively narrow demographic.

Captures the era, but disappoints mightily

[byght · 6/10 · 2 September 2004]

*SPOILERS*

"Reality Bites" is one of the more unique viewing experiences I have had recently (just watching it for the first time yesterday, ten years after its release--it was one of those movies I was always just going to get around to seeing, and incredibly this took me a decade). I say unique because, while disappointment is certainly no stranger to the American film fan, it's a rare thing indeed when that disappointment extends to a sense of betrayal, even pain.

The film starts out loaded with promise. Snarky Gen-X college buddies Lelaina (Winona Ryder), Troy (Ethan Hawke), Vickie (Janeane Garafalo) and Sammy (Steve Zahn) have just graduated, hate their jobs, and are looking for direction in the directionless mid-'90s. Lelaina has started a documentary about the four of them in hopes of finding answers that way. Then she causes a stranger she initially mistakes for a yuppy (Michael, played by director Ben Stiller) to have a car accident, which leads to a sweet and very authentic romance. The whole film feels supremely natural from the get-go. The performances and characters are solid (aside from token gay buddy Sammy, who is a complete and utter tack-on) and the attitudes capture the era as well as the clothes and music.

Then, much to my chagrin, we are betrayed by Stiller and screenwriter Helen Childress on several fronts.

First, the movie almost abruptly stops being about youth and self-discovery and turns into a tired love-triangle story with the loathesome Troy making up the other leg of the tripod with Lelaina and Michael. Sure, I get it, the two of them represent the choices in life and direction that Lelaina must face. But I don't want these characters reduced to a cheap metaphor, especially when the metaphor crowds out a theme that could have been really meaningful to anyone who was young in the '90s. We never had our "Five Easy Pieces," sadly.

Secondly, and most grievously, Lelaina and the film choose terribly wrong. They choose Troy. And in doing so, "Reality Bites" makes the same sad mistakes that its generation did. It mistakes a goatee and a lock of hair over the eye for sincerity. It prizes immaturity, ego, pretension, self-absorption, inertia and tantrums over the honesty and humility of Michael. It's almost laughable when the massively phony Troy tells Lelaina, "I'm the only real thing you have." There's nothing real about Troy. There was nothing real about the legions of self-obsessed a**holes he represented.

Because Troy is so unlikable, the movie makes the unforgivably cheap move of killing off his unseen father about ten minutes from the end. This is supposed lend this vile human being some kind of worth in our eyes, I guess, but I didn't buy it for an instant. The orphan routine comes off as just another drama-queen ploy (successful, of course) to worm his way into Lelaina's pants. What really scares and even sickens me is that female viewers probably ACTUALLY SWOONED when Hawke delivered those maudlin final lines to Ryder--falling for the seduction of the worst aspects of that era...if this were an '80s movie, choosing Troy would be the equivalent of choosing the rich, yuppy jock.

Then, the worst betrayal of all, the movie completely abandons Michael, easily the best character (certainly the best person) in the film. He's not worth an ending, you see, because he has a clean-looking haircut and doesn't play acoustic guitar. Someone please give me a stiff drink so I can forget about this ending.

I'm angry enough to give this film a 3, but I figure anything that evokes so much feeling in me, even for the wrong reasons, has to be worth at least a 5. Great performances (Ryder, Garafalo and Stiller), superb and natural direction, some nice dialogue, and an overall sense of authenticity push it to a 6. But I'm hard-pressed to go beyond that for a movie that so completely and utterly fails to "get it," and in the process loses the opportunity to be a landmark film for my generation.

If you want something that actually deals with mid-'90s ennui in an unflinching manner and offers real insight, rent 1994's other slacker opus, "Clerks."

to think I once felt guilty for being a little disappointed...

[dbistolaridis · 20 October 2009]

I first saw this movie when it came out in the theaters and I was a teenager myself, and I remember feeling a just a little shortchanged and even dirty, like I'd been manipulated in a way. I did enjoy it, but the reasons for enjoying it do not hold up today. Watching it again has been fun because looking at it through adult eyes, I am having fun seeing how easy it is to spot the dated qualities and outmoded philosophies that, as one reviewer said, were pretty much defunct by 2000, or maybe even by 1995-6.

And it's not like I was some profound kid who had all this insight how mass media sells these ideas to young people...I bought into the whole "Seattle grunge" thing lock, stock and barrel, I thought guys with stringy unwashed hair and bad attitudes were totally hot, I wore crocheted vests, mood rings, and colored sunglasses with the best of them. So me thinking that something did not ring true must have been because it is pretty obvious that this movie is in essence a failure.

1. The characters-The movie works really hard to make Troy be the better option for Leilana. For teenagers, he was totally sexy to watch on screen and totally swoon worthy, but his utterly obnoxious attitude, his rudeness to Ben Stiller's character, and his bullying just came off as unpleasant at the least, and his philosophy for not working are textbook definitions of a narcissist. Hearing some of his pseudo intellectual discussions are painful and embarrassing, because it is clear that the movie feels that young Gen X'ers embrace and admire such outlooks unequivocally and at face value. And kids were supposed to identify with this person? What an inconsiderate person, to stand up Leilana's father for the job interview and lead her to blame herself, and to embarrass women around him for being attracted to him. Any good friend and countless therapists would advise against having him as a boyfriend. The sad few seconds devoted to his dying father are not enough to redeem him or "understand" him.

Bottom line, if Ethan Hawke was supposed to make this person somewhat sympathetic, he failed, or if he truly was supposed to be this unlikable, then good work.

Leilana did come off as sympathetic and overall was well played by Winona, and her beauty is the one of the few things in this movie with true staying power. Her character does some pretty awful things, though. When her boss rudely rebuffs her video ideas, she humiliates him on air. When her friend offers her a job, she snaps at her. Instead of swallowing her pride and working at the gap for a bit, she resorts to the embarrassing "gas card" scene, which we are supposed to think is cute and rebellious. It is totally unconvincing that a "valedictorian" would ever be so irresponsible and immature, even if she had fallen on bad times.

As for the other two, they are both well acted and likable, but seem to be added on simply to achieve a gritty "90's" edge, like HIV testing and coming out to your parents. Neither subplot is developed enough to give this movie the edge it craves. Both are attractive and funny, and Vicky especially projects a friendliness, sympathy, and is cute as hell in those throwback clothes.

2. The Michael stuff really is a failure. Ben Stiller did a good job acting in this movie and came across as warm and real, but this movie is his work too. I guess a simple plot device would have been to make him more arrogant from the get-go so that he could seem like the "bad guy" but that would have been cheap. Either way, the movie does seem like it's trying to convince you that he either "betrays" Leilana or "doesn't understand her" the way Troy does, and it doesn't work. Those two had a positive chemistry and seemed to complement each other as characters. To make this a true coming of age and growing up story, Leilana should have either chosen Michael, who emphasizes growing up, taking responsibility for your actions, and change for the better, or decided to be on her own for a while to become a more mature person.

3. The biggest failure of this movie, and in my opinion, the most dangerous, is how it elevates Troy's attitude as the noble one above all, as if being narcissistic and self-involved are desirable. Being that he is the hot guy of the movie and that the other characters seem to respond so positively to him, a young teenager is left with the message that this is the "new" way to be and that Michael's responsible and kind persona are "hypocritical" or "selling out." Leaving the theater back in '94, I was enjoying myself thinking about the romance between two good looking and stylish characters, but I couldn't really get into that part as much as I should have. Since I also really wanted to be cool and up to date, I was wondering if I should be acting or living like any of these characters, living in a flat with a guy who mooches off me, sleeping around with strangers, dancing at the gas station, etc. The movies have a lot more influence on young people than one thinks.

In my gut, I felt two things: a-My parents would be horrified if I brought friends like that around and more frighteningly, b-I secretly would agree with them.

Reality or not?

[Idolprincess · 7/10 · 13 July 2004]

I rented this movie knowing it wasn't really a comedy but a drama about the life of people in their early twenties in the 90's. What pushed me to rent it was the fact that many people qualified this film as horrible, but many other people loved this film and were talking about it like it was the most realistic thing ever.

Let's face it. I'm not going to pretend to know what it's like to be a teenager/young adult in the 90's since I was 9 years old when this movie came out. However, I think I have a good enough judgement to tell if this movie was realistic or not based on my personal experiences.

This movie isn't specially about the 90's, it's about "becoming an adult" and all it implies. It's about a cast of characters who hesitate between forever living what they were told is a pointless life [always having fun and bumming around] and becoming like the adults that they have criticized so much in their childhood. This, by itself, is very realistic, because it's a problem that many young people face even today. The main character Lalaina represents this fact completely. She's shooting a video of her friends as they struggle to find themselves in this world that was built by baby-boomers that they can't relate to. Also, she's a very clean-cut and hard working person, yet she hangs out with her friends who are more of the "rebellious" type.

This movie tries to represent the "alternative" crowd. Each character in this movie has an "alternative" as well as a "conformist" side, which is very strange. By example, you have a female character who wears vintage clothes and lives in a typical artsy room but works at the gap. This is another side of what was mentioning earlier. As young adults, they're straying away from the whole "alternative-ness" of their teenage years. This is something I've seen among people I know as well, and that I personally dislike. I guess it's something very typical of our era as well as the 90's.

What I found unrealistic in this movie was that the characters seem a bit cliché sometimes. Sure, I've seen people like that. But the personalities in the movie are too simplified. By example, there's the guy who always is slacking around doing nothing because he feels that having a full-time job until you retire is like wasting your life. Okay, but what else? What type of person is this guy, really? Also.. Each of the characters seem to act the way they do because they come from broken homes, which isn't very realistic in my opinion... The video that the main character has made is supposed to make their viewers know her friends and herself, but we don't really get to know them by watching the entire movie.

Overall, I thought it was an enjoyable movie. I liked the atmosphere of it. It also wasn't always predictable. I gave this movie a 7 because I liked it even though I disliked some of it's aspects.

It doesn't so much bite as it does nip

[soymilk · 6/10 · 3 April 2005]

Any film striving to chart the up-to-the-minute details of twenty-something life in 1994 was bound to feel a tad outdated the second that 1995 had found its cultural niche. And true, 'Reality Bites' was clearly trying so hard to be hip and with the times that there are points when its characters can seem very distant now (there can't be too many people today who'd consider dancing around a gas station like an unrestrained idiot to be a fitting definition of coolness – nowadays viewers will probably be more inclined to identify with the clerk looking on with bemusement in that scene). Nonetheless, the uncertainties that come with entering adulthood and establishing a steady independent life of your own in the real world will always be relevant issues to young people no matter what the era, so any flick that deals with them has a fair chance of striking a chord with such an audience (being a young twenty-something myself, they're certainly hot on my own mind). Sadly, they never amount to much more here than the backdrop for a familiar love triangle yarn, albeit the familiar love triangle yarn as you've never seen it before. Our lead girl still gets torn between two guys, each from a different rung on the social ladder, only this time round it's actually the down-to-earth businessman making a healthy living for himself (Michael) who's an amiable mass of benevolence, and the laid-back young musician struggling to make ends meet (Troy) who acts like an offhand, self-righteous bully for much of his screen time. That the film still expects our sympathies to lie in the usual places regardless and root for Troy simply because he's the underdog is just the slightest bit galling (let's ignore the fact that Leliana, the lucky heroine who has the honour of choosing between them, is something of a whiny, irresponsible brat herself). Perhaps the only thing more fatal than choosing to go with such a wearisome and predictable formula is using characters that don't even comfortably fit it.

Fortunately, 'Reality Bites' does have a number of small redeeming qualities which come along at just the right moments and may make us intermittently forget that this is all going to be part of something very hollow and routine overall. It's stylish, well-crafted and reasonably entertaining, if you can forgive the occasional patch of cringe-inducing dialogue ("I'm a non-practicing Jew" "Hey, I'm a non-practicing virgin" – dear lord), and Ben Stiller adds life and flair from whichever side of the camera he's on. His debut direction feels surprisingly accomplished, panning the various scenes from a selection of imaginative angles and connecting them together very smoothly, while his character is easily the most likable and understandable of the bunch (too bad he wasn't meant to be). John Mahoney (better known for his role as Martin Crane in the popular sitcom 'Frasier') has a memorable cameo as a disgruntled TV show host, the soundtrack is filled with lots of little audio treats, and the people in the prop department have certainly provided us with plenty of interesting things to look at – it's actually quite fun to watch if you keep your eye out for all the novelty memorabilia that these characters have hoarded; in addition to Michael's beloved Dr Zaius figurine, a Garfield-shaped telephone and a metal 'Charlie's Angels' lunch-box, among others, have made it to the set.

But what really hurts 'Reality Bites' in the end, other than the hackneyed storyline, is just how much depth and substance the protagonists are sorely lacking. Considering that it revolves around a recently-graduated girl determined to demonstrate that she and her friends are more than just shallow Generation X-ers, devoid of any desires that extend beyond having sex and eating pizza, it doesn't exactly do a great deal to convince us otherwise. Most of their time is seemingly devoted to nothing more ambitious than messing around and having spats with each other, while the more serious material, including a subplot which sees Leliana's best friend Vickie awaiting the results of a test for HIV, is downplayed so considerably that you never get the impression that any of them are terribly concerned. The back-stories we hear about rough childhoods of divorced or neglectful parents are equally perfunctory, and the sad fact that Troy's dad is currently dying from prostate cancer is treated very incidentally by the film as a whole - what little is made of it feels more like an emotional blackmail designed to make us feel sympathy for the pretentious Troy than an actual aspect of his character.

It gives us something good every now and then, but overall 'Reality Bites' just isn't strong or satisfying enough to qualify as a coming of age classic (don't even think about comparing it to 'the Graduate', or even 'Risky Business'). While it may go on being fondly-remembered by those who experienced it at the time, on the whole this one feels like it's been rather grounded in 1994, and left with only real claim to fame – and that's that it famously beat 'Pulp Fiction' to the rights to have 'My Sharona' on its soundtrack. With hindsight, it was probably 'Pulp Fiction' who had the last laugh.

Grade: B-

The Real Reality World Bites

[Smells_Like_Cheese · 6/10 · 24 June 2010]

I remember a few years ago watching the VH1 show called "I Love the '90's", which I'm sure you've either heard of or seen. Reality Bites was one of the movies mentioned and how big it was at the time. My sister saw the clip with me and mentioned how she and her friends were in the "Ben vs. Ethan" fight, the good guy vs. the bad guy or who was just cuter? Goes to show where our shallow side started. But I was curious to see the movie and found it playing on TV one day, so I decided to check it out. This is definitely a movie of the '90's, which I find amusing that in the '90's we were obsessed with the '70's where the 70's were obsessed with the 50's. Watch as we go a little further in the 10's, we'll be obsessed with the '90's I guess. But back onto the movie, over all I think I liked it. All though I don't agree with the way it ended, it was a good coming of age story with some good laughs and decent performances.

Long-time friend, temporary roommate guitarist Troy and budding film maker Lelaina are attracted to each other, though it's an attraction that neither of them has really acted upon. He's a slacker, nihilist and grunge rock musician by night, losing job after job in a series of minimum wage dead end endeavors during the day. Lelaina meets Michael when she throws a cigarette into his convertible, causing him to crash into her car. The two soon begin to date. He works at an MTV-like cable channel called "In Your Face" as an executive, and after learning about a documentary she's been working on, wants to get it aired on his network. After an impulsive act of retribution, Lelaina loses her job, which causes some tension with her roommates. She and Troy then sleep together and confess their love. The morning after, he avoids her and, after a messy confrontation, leaves town. Meanwhile, Lelaina's relationship with Michael dissolves after he helps her sell the documentary to his network, only to let them edit it into a stylized montage that she feels compromises her artistic vision, though he did not realize how her work would be "updated" for the audience, he tries to make things right with her. Torn between the good boy vs. the bad boy, Lelaina must choose between them.

At the time "The Real World" was on MTV, there was some major competition to grab the youth's attention. This movie is one of the most honest I have seen where the young adults are acting like the way a lot of young adults do, very scared and unsure of what the future holds for us. Going from job to job, date to date, wanting money, sex, a house, a car, and a great job but never sure if it takes hard work, connections or just good luck. Winona did a great job showing great intelligence and courage in her role, she held herself very strongly and was a pleasure to watch. The only thing I did not appreciate about the film is that Ben Stiller is a successful executive and it's almost looked down upon as if he "sold out", which was stupid. If he's not the right guy for Winona's character, that's fine, but don't make him seem like he's a dork. But with a good cast, this movie does pull itself together well and keeps you interested. I would recommend it.

6/10

Resonates with me

[kmedina518 · 9/10 · 1 June 2006]

I really enjoyed this movie. Looking back in hindsight, I can see the selfishness of the characters, and I have read the complaints about this, but isn't that kind of the whole point of the movie? It's about people talking about not "selling out" while at the same time they ARE "selling out" in many different ways. They (the characters in the movie) are all consumers who satirize the very idea of "consumerism" but refuse to "stoop down to the level" of getting menial jobs to try and pay the bills. The movie defines for me how education isn't everything and from my own experience I have learned that sometimes the "great dream" (of being a writer, artist, musician, etc.) just doesn't pay the bills and in order to make decent money one may have to go into a field that is not originally their first choice as a means of employment. I remember being young and wistful, with dreams of being an artist, only to have to "settle" for an office job to make ends meet.

The movie does express what life was like for me at the time. I was a naive student with dreams of producing great artistic work, but who learned that what is taught in college as "reality" is not really reality at all. College students are fed with lofty artistic statements and philosophies and are taught to analyze endless aspects of society, ideals, etc., and are taught that "knowledge and education are power" but are not taught that credibility and respect are things which must be earned and that very few people actually start out at the top of the career ladder.

Overall, this continues to be one of my favorite films and I appreciate the myriad of messages that it sends, though they may, at times, be contradictory.

Post-graduation problems for Generation X

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 21 June 2017]

When Lelaina Pierce and her friends graduate they have expectations about how their lives will progress; inevitably they don't go according to plan. Lelaina is working for an obnoxious morning TV presenter… at least she is until she makes him look a fool and gets fired. She is living with her friend Vickie and they are joined by their friend Troy after he is sacked from his job at a magazine stall. Troy clearly has feeling for her but can't express them; instead he acts like a jerk. Lelaina is making a documentary about her friends and new boyfriend Mike, who works for an MTVesque TV station, offers to get it aired… unfortunately the way they edit it isn't anything like she intended.

I recall enjoying this when I first watched it but watching again I found it somewhat less enjoyable; the characters aren't particularly sympathetic. This is particularly true of Troy. I think we were meant to want him to end up with Lelaina but I couldn't help thinking that just about anybody, or nobody, would have been better than this obnoxious bully… even Mike and he was played by Ben Stiller who we were meant to dislike! I think the cast did a good job; even if I didn't like the characters I did believe in them. Winona Ryder impressed as Lelaina and even though I didn't like Troy, Ethan Hawke did a solid in the role. Overall this isn't a bad film but it was a bit disappointing as it wasn't as good as I remembered.

One last thought; isn't it depressing that when this generation were at school they were 'The Breakfast Club' but once they graduate they become this bunch?!

what was this film aiming for?

[elfinium · 3/10 · 13 April 2007]

I rate my movies by how much i feel they are worth watching. Thus "totally" equals a score of 10 and "don't bothers" like this one end up with 5 or below.

The back cover of Reality Bites presents it as a commentary on life for 20-somethings in the 90s - with a love story to boot. It begins that way... but lapses soon enough into what is merely a clichéd love triangle tale between Winona Ryder's documentary-maker-wannabe Lelaina, Ethan Hawke's darkly handsome moody-muso-slacker Troy and Ben Stiller's likable yuppie Michael who, whilst adoring, "will never really get her". No props for guessing who she picks. The sad thing is that the deluded Lelaina ain't that deep, and it's her that isn't deserving of Michael.

Overall you can tell the film is trying to say something, but what? I didn't enjoy watching it enough to bother chasing for meanings that mostly had to rely on the audience's imagination to be formed. Whatever the message was supposed to be is strangled by the sloppy script and dislikeable characters (can you say pretentious and whiny? The only character we're actually able to relate to, who doesn't seem to think the world revolves around him, is Michael - the yuppie! So what if he's a suit, he's the only one who isn't an a**hole).

While Reality Bites manages to be reasonably entertaining throughout, it will leave you ultimately unsatisfied and more than likely bothered - it doesn't really explore or say anything favourable about those Gen-X-ers and the love triangle thing has been done a thousand times before, and better.

Gets better with time

[jbran · 10/10 · 28 November 1999]

I loved this movie the first time I saw it, and I enjoy it more with each viewing. It's routinely panned for reasons that I really can't comprehend. It's witty, well-acted, quickly paced. I notice that people don't talk as badly about it anymore. I think it's because "Reality Bites" will be one of the films that future generations will look back on to know a little bit about this time.

If you try to be ironic and fail... well, it's kind of ironic

[momus_boy-1 · 3/10 · 20 May 2005]

The defining moment of Reality Bites is when a newspaper editor asks Winona Rider to define "irony". Well Ethan Hawke's character is right, it is indeed when the actual meaning is the complete opposite of the literal meaning.

In the colloquial sense of the word however, a good example of irony would be having characters bemoaning the ham-fisted attempts by the baby boomers to define and package generation X, in a movie that ham-fistedly attempts to define and package Gen-X.

The makers of Reality Bites however are apparently immune to irony, even when it is attached to its own backside: We are supposed to be (humourously) appalled right along with Rider's character when the documentary she has been constantly working on gets commercialised and dumbed down. Her documentary, you see, gets distilled into a series of catch-phrases and disconnected, clichéd scenes set to a soundtrack of pop music, and abounding with product placements. Sadly, the butchered documentary is indistinguishable from the rest of the movie in this sense.

Reality Bites attempts to be Diner, or The Big Chill for Gen X, but instead ends up being more of a St Elmo's Fire for the 90s. It rings false almost continuously. There is never an interaction between characters that doesn't seem contrived and forced. From moment to moment they move from one artificial scenario to another; dancing in the gas station, the episode of "Good Times" game, everything the characters do feels fake.

This movie feels like it was written by someone who conducted interviews with gen Xers, watched how they live, and then wrote a story, based on the romantic comedy formula, that included all the touchstones and references they felt would appeal to Gen Xers.

In short, Reality Bites was written and directed by people who just didn't get Gen X. Worse though, they also didn't get how to make a good movie.

On the plus side, you can watch for appearances by Andy Dick, David Spade, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Renee Zellweger in tiny roles, and this may have been the career-defining moment for Janeane Garofolo.

...and I have to give the people behind Reality Bites credit for the line "Because Mom, I'm not retarded."

After further review... it doesn't hold up well...

[nunyerbiz · 1 October 2001]

Ok.. When I first saw this in the theatre upon it's initial release, I really indentified with it. Upon viewing it seven years later, I realized what a whiny, early-twentysomething I was back then. This movie is incredibly pretentious and makes my generation look like a bunch of babies with dirty diapers. Unfortunately, in the mid 90's, that's exactly how most people my age acted. We felt we deserved the world on a silver platter... and cried when it wasn't handed to us.

The characters, by 2001 standards, are all horrible mid-90's stereotypes. Hawke, Ryder and Garofolo's characters are painfully self-absorbed. Especially Hakwe's character Troy, he is supposed to be "deep" and "intellectual", but after viewing the film in 2001, his "serious slacker" persona is almost comical. Lelaina (Ryder) is upset because she can't land her dream job immediately after college. (who does?!?) Vickie (Garofolo) is basically a slut who works at the Gap. She talks about AIDS tests as being a defining point of Gen X. This never happened and makes the film seem even more dated.

I won't go too much into the story, but it's basically a love triangle between Troy (Hawke), Lelaina (Ryder) and the nice-guy yuppie Michael (Stiller). The early-mid 90's stamp is all over the story, as Stiller's successful-nice guy character is dumped for the slacker with few redeeming qualities (Hawke). In 1994 I saw Michael as square and Troy seemed pretty damned slick and cool. In 2001, I think Michael would be vacationing on the French Riviera, while Troy would be selling used cars. Amazing the difference in attitude seven years make.

Technically, the movie is well done. Stiller does a pretty good job directing and gets admirable performances from his cast. Especially the supporting actors Kurtz, Mahoney and an underused Steve Zahn. The soundtrack is excellent and holds up to the test of time much better than the film or soundtracks from similar movies. (ie. Singles)

Overall, Reality Bites is an average love-triangle story with WAY to much mid-90's Gen-X slacker sentiment. IMHO, this movie did not age well and today, it seems like a self-parody with it's "angst/slacker" theme....

Ratings: In 1994: 7/10 In 2001: 4/10

iconic Gen X movie

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 12 May 2015]

Generation X college graduates struggle to find their way. Valedictorian Lelaina Pierce (Winona Ryder) tries to maintain her sincere believes while making a documentary about her group and working at Grant Gubler's morning show. Troy Dyer (Ethan Hawke) is her best friend and a willful womanizing slacker. Vickie Miner (Janeane Garofalo) is concerned that she has become a manager at the Gap. Sammy Gray (Steve Zahn) is trying to come to terms with his sexuality. Music TV executive yuppie Michael Grates (Ben Stiller) crashes into Lelaina's car leading into a romance.

This is an iconic Gen X movie. Winona is adorable. Ethan Hawke is at the height of his slacker cool. There is great music. There is great slacker dialog. The only problem is that Ben Stiller is not a big enough jerk. That breaks a cliché from the traditional rom-com. One breaks the formula at one's own risk. Although who doesn't want to dance in a gas station convenient store?

So Nineties

[ill_behavior · 6/10 · 5 December 2005]

I remember really liking this film when it first came out, but it hasn't aged very well. It seems to be suffocating under the weight of its own lethargy.

Many teen concepts are played out here, the angst, the moving out for the first time, the corporate sellout versus being true to yourself, and for a while, I got sucked in. But now when you look at the film its hard not to see it as some cynical marketing piece, as Bill Hicks once said, they've gone for the "anti-market market". It plays big business and corporations as evil whilst simultaneously being in bed with so called corporations and taking your hard earned cash while they're at it.

Again, some of the characters just need a good slapping, too many emo-kids here, the world isn't fair, yeah, get over it and get a wash while you're at it. Maybe its a bit too kitsch for me, and Americans will get more out of it than other nationalities, but I thought the acting wasn't great, the jokes too few and far between, the direction plodding and the tale itself rather predictable. There are worse films out there though, so don't be afraid of giving it a try, it just seems as empty as the post-modern society it was trying to deconstruct.

90's Time Capsule

[Megan_Shida · 7/10 · 4 August 2020]

This movie is the 90's in all of it's 90 minutes, so if you're nostalgic then look no further. The film tells a familiar coming of age story: high school graduates become adults and figure out their futures aren't that bright. Every generation is passed on the world from their parents and they have to deal with it and the fact that they may even become their parents. This is that story in it's all it's angsty 90's glory and the film does it with some fair humor. Winona Ryder,Ben Stiller, Ethan Hawke, and Steve Zahn are your main players but a number of cameos are made from other 90's mainstays such as David Spade and Andy Dick. While the movie does risk becoming too campy at times, for the most part this is a dry and fairly sober look at what it meant to be a young adult trying to survive at that time.

Captured the 1990s zeitgeist

[fredrikgunerius · 7/10 · 17 May 2023]

A dissection of Generation X and life as a young adult in the early to mid-90s - a world of camcorders, cigarettes, apartment sharing, and casual sex. With its trivially philosophical meanderings and music-video-style, Reality Bites arguably caught the 1990s zeitgeist better than most comparable films. And the film has retained its documentarian value, despite a rather sleight narrative basis. Because, at its core, this is just another story of guy-gets-girl, where the only looming question is whether it's the right guy in the end. A love triangle revolving around a Winona Ryder at the height of her popularity, an aptly bohemian Ethan Hawke, and a somewhat high-strung Ben Stiller, who also directed with a surprising amount of panache. Also with effective supporting work from Janeane Garofalo and a wealth of great tunes from the era in question. Good fun for people who remember the 90s.

Life After College!

[g-bodyl · 8/10 · 26 April 2015]

Reality Bites is a movie I can currently relate with, as I have been recently suffering through post-college trauma. The movie has such a relatable premise, but I feel it could have been just a little better. But watching the movie provided me with the feeling that I am not alone in this ordeal. The movie was written pretty well and this is Ben Stiller's directorial debut, so a movie like this is not a bad way to begin a directing career.

Stiller's film is about a TV production assistant named Lelaina who is creating a documentary about post-grad life with her three friends: Troy who is a philosophical unemployed slacker, Vicki who is the manager of Gap, and Sammy who is trying to find his sexuality. When she meets Michael, an executive at an MTV-like studio, there is a chance her documentary can now go public.

The film is reasonably acted. Winona Ryder does a pretty good job as Lelaina, even if she seems a little whiny. I liked Ethan Hawke's character as his philosophy reminded of his character in the Before Sunrise series. Ben Stiller had a limited role, but he did a solid job. I also like Steve Zahn as the man trying to find out who he is.

Overall, Reality Bites is a decent movie because mainly it has a theme that people my age can relate to. The path to show this theme may not work as effective, but the movie was still mostly entertaining. I will say that the documentary shots got a little annoying at times, but the narrative itself is quite good.

My Grade: B

Decent 20-somethings melodrama

[jon_pratt12345 · 6/10 · 2 August 2021]

A decent 90s drama about recent university graduates and their relationships. Some nice slices of 1990s nostalgia and the early days of MTV-style reality shows. A simple love triangle story and some classic slacker / high achiever archetypes but the great cast elevates it to something above average.

For a movie called Reality Bites, the characters sure have nothing to complain about!

[joebjackson · 1/10 · 23 October 2012]

Look, I get that being a young adult ain't easy, they're a lot of issues in life no matter what age...except for the characters in this movie. Winona Ryder's character (lelaina) is a horrible person who steals 900 dollars from her father...because she's "Rebellious" and Ethan Hawke's character (Troy) is one of the most despicable people ever put to film. Apathetic, pretentious, egotistical, despicable, he's just an awful character. AND YET, these two are our leads who we root for! THESE TWO! Lelaina is a stealing, whiny, pathetic child while Ethan is a lazy, jerk who thinks his music will be his career (ignoring the fact his music makes Creed sound like The Band)hey Ethan, most people who have a music passion tend to have a job so they can support themselves while chasing their dreams...just a thought...oh wait you have parents willing to support you and give you money but they're just "The Man" to you. ugh.... This movie is framed like were supposed to root for these two when characters like this should be framed as if they were the horrible people they are and consequences happen to them (a la Trainspotting) instead they are just two cool rebels...The only three likable characters either get barely any screen time (Janeane Garofolo's character and Steve Zahn who deserved much better) Apparently to this movie, being privileged sucks too...was this movie made by those whiny teenagers in class who make those poems that mean absolutely nothing?

But my biggest question is...what is the point of this movie? Was this was meant to be a satire of the 90s? Well it came out too early in 1994 for this to satirize it...but even if it wasn't it was not framed like a satire. It was filmed as a serious movie... Was it to relate to teenagers or young adults? Maybe so but I'd hate to meet the people who are like this, because in real life there are consequences and for stuff like the characters in this movie, it's not a good consequence. Was it too be a nice romantic comedy? Well it fails there amazingly since the characters are so horrible. NO I'll tell you what it's purpose was, CASH! This movie is perfect pandering towards this kind of demographic, let's face it, teenagers are idiots and they will dig this kind of stuff, how ironic that a movie against the man was made by the man (BTW, that's irony Ethan Hawke. Not the actual meaning is the complete opposite of the literal meaning) Now there are people who apparently relate to this movie and say "That's what I was like" IF that's the case 1. NO WAY did you get out of something similar to that without ANY consequences like in this cinematic abomination. 2. Is that really a good thing? Most of the time when you look back on stuff like this you say "Wow...I was a complete idiot." Bottom line...I hate this movie...I hate everything about...The only good acting comes from Jeane, Steve and Ben Stiller (who I forgot to mention gets ridiculed for GASP having a steady, desirable job and being nice!) everyone else is awful, it's shot poorly. If this movie summed up Gen X than thank god we moved on from those days, things were better in those days? If it's like this movie than that is completely wrong!

Why are people so hard on this movie??

[bkg0906 · 10/10 · 12 September 2019]

I don't usually write reviews but I had to add a little positivity to these brutal reviews! This is an essential 90s movie - I loved it then, I still love it now. It kindles so much nostalgia in me for that time period - right before cell phones & social media were ubiquitous. Many of this movie's negative reviews are just complaining that the characters are lazy & whiny. I'm really not sure why reviewers seem so brutally dismissive of this movie. I wholeheartedly enjoy well-written critiques and reviews, but why bother taking the time (& space) just to say "this movie sucked", "so and so's acting sucked."? That doesn't tell anybody anything about a movie, because it's all your opinion that isn't backed up in any way. I guess I'm just sick of sifting through all the nonsense to find well-written reviews (of any movie) on IMDB. Reality Bites is a sweet rom-com with great 90s styles, music, and topics. I don't think it's intended to define a generation, but it is very reminiscent of that time period.

Music on the roof

[hadoukenuk · 7/10 · 23 August 2007]

Does anyone know the artist and title of the song that is used in the very beginning of the movie when Laney is filming her friends on the roof? As far as I know, there are no lyrics in it. It sounds a bit electric. I tried to find it on Google but that won't work. The song is not included on the soundtrack. Somehow it sounded really familiar to me. I can not upload the video part because I saw the movie on television. Please let me know if you have the answer! I really like this song so some help would be great. (I didn't really like the movie, I did like the music. For me, the movie was a bit too long and whining almost. But well that's my question and I hope someone can help me with it!)

The worst Gen-X film ever

[memery-1 · 1/10 · 19 December 2007]

I saw this shortly after graduating from college. I must say that I was pretty embarrassed to be a part of the generation that the film sought to characterize. There are numerous misconceptions about Gen-X and "Bites" pretty much captures all of them. For one, I can say that few twenty-somethings in the 90s celebrated Shaun Cassidy, "Good Times," Frampton, "Planet of the Apes," and Schoolhouse Rock with as much zeal as the dunderhead characters in this film. In fact, many of the Gen-Xers I was friends would sneer at the thought of listening to "Frampton Comes Alice" and damn sure would not know who Dr. Zaius was. Likewise, most twenty-somethings were either jamming to Alice in Chains or even Snoop's first album instead of going nuts to the Knack. Yes, Gen-Xers helped make "retro" stuff hip again, BUT such music, films and so on were only cool because stupid films like this pushed pop culture references down everyone's throats. In reality, however, some of the stereotypes presented in the film are true. I did know several people like Winona Ryder's character who graduated from college with little focus, little talent and not flexibility to make it in the professional world. And Ethan Hawke's depiction of an oh so ironic, chain smoking slacker was not untypical of some of the era's lost souls. Inaccurate or accurate, it's still a frustrating mess and its ridiculous conclusion only leaves the audience frustrated and furious.