Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Alistair Olson After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Allissa .Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

g-bodyl 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

FilmCrushU Watching cable today, I caught the last 30 mins of Reality Bites starring Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke and Janene Garolfo. Is it me?? Does the entire scene were Michael returns to offer Lelaina some work & Troy makes it OBVIOUS he & Lel is INVOLVED remind U of Prince's film PURPLE RAIN ??? Especially when Troy jumps on stage & begin to expose their sexual exploits causing Lelaina to FLEE from the venue! Remember Prince singing "Darling Nikki" & Appolonia running out of the club?!! This whole scene was literally SNATCHED from Purple Rain. Stiller & Childress ... DO U HAVE NO SHAME ? In their defense, this film certainly lives up to its title! Incidentally . . . the outside camera shot of the venue looks a lot like the music club from Purple Rain too. SMH.

joebjackson 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!

Kristine 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