Reality Bites (1994)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Ben Stiller

Writer (WGA):

Helen Childress (written by)

Release Date:

18 February 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

A comedy about love in the '90s.

Plot:

Generation X Graduates face life after college with a filmmaker looking for work and love in Houston.

Plot Keywords:

Generation X | Love | Valedictorian | Ménage À Trois | College Graduation

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Winona Ryder	...	Lelaina Pierce
Ethan Hawke	...	Troy Dyer
Janeane Garofalo	...	Vickie Miner
Steve Zahn	...	Sammy Gray
Ben Stiller	...	Michael Grates
Swoosie Kurtz	...	Charlane McGregor
Harry O'Reilly	...	Wes McGregor
Susan Norfleet	...	Helen Anne Pierce
Joe Don Baker	...	Tom Pierce
Renée Zellweger	...	Tami (as Renee Zellweger)
James Rothenberg	...	Rick
John Mahoney	...	Grant Gubler
Eric Morgan Stuart	...	Damien (as Eric Stuart)
Barry Del Sherman	...	Grant's Producer (as Barry Sherman)
Chelsea Lagos	...	Troy Groupie

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some language, drug content and sensuality.

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:S | Germany:12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:7 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Houston, Texas, USA

Company:

Jersey Films

Trivia:

Dave Pirner, Soul Asylum front-man and boy-friend of Winona Ryder during that time, is visible in some of the "home-made" videos.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the group is smoking pot with a pop can, there are two different cans used.

Quotes:

Vickie: Would the two of you just do it and get it over with? I'm starving!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Home Improvement: Reality Bytes (#3.24)" (1994)

Soundtrack:

Locked Out

This is my life...

This is a much better film than the consensus would have it. in fact, I would say it bids fair to become a classic (it certainly will serve cultural historians of the nineties well...) Compared to "Singles", a superficially similar film released a couple of years earlier, "Reality Bites" is so much more, well, biting... Not to say that I don't like Singles, it's cute, but the movie in question here is much more than that. I could really empathize with these characters, especially Rider's Lelaina Pierce. It's hard to hang on to ideals in the real world (guess that's why I'm back at university). The script is REALLY good, almost every line is funny or incisive or both. The acting is first-rate- so they're playing themselves, so what! Does that make it any less enjoyable? I don't think so... This is a superior romantic-comedy, set amongst the same noncomformist set that enlivened the screwball comedies of the thirties, and it works just as well...