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Reality Bites Customer Reviews (1 - 3 of 8 Reviews)

A Misunderstood Film of a Misunderstood Generation
This movie is so fantastic, and, I beleive, a good movie for people of any age. The numerous pop-culture references do have the flavor of a certain American era, but the great humor in those references is timeless. You couldn't ask for a better cast, with Winona Ryder as Lelaina Pierce, a college valedictorian who learns that life can be rough to navigate even for someone as smart and hardworking as herself. Both Ethan Hawke as Troy and Ben Stiller as Michael are hysterically funny as drastically different characters who share nothing except a romantic love for Winona's character. This movie doesn't take itself too seriously-- it's just a really fun time.

I Loved this Movie!
I Loved this movie! It had everything: comedy, realism, and the ability to make you laugh and cry. The acting is superb. Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, Janeane Garofalo, Steve Zahn and Ben Stiller are excellent.
Lelaina Pierce (Ryder) is the valedoctorian of her college and should have her entire life mapped out for her, but all she has is a job at a morning talk show called 'Good Morning Grant' where she makes barely enough money to cover her rent. (For all those Frasier fans out there Grant is well acted by John Mahoney who plays Frasier's father on the show.) Her best friend Vickie (Garofalo) has just been promoted to manager at the Gap, and her other friend Sammy (Zahn) is coming to terms with his sexuality. Troy (Hawke) is her other troubled best friend who is the lead singer of a band and is in love with Lelaina. Lelaina videotapes all her friends making a documentary about their lives and their troubles, and she meets a guy named Michael (Stiller) who she begins dating, and who wants to turn her documentary into a television show for the network he works for called In Your Face TV.
The movie has a plot that appears so simple, yet it applies to everyone everywhere. It tries to answer the question: what to do when you just get out of college and where should life go?
Lelaina is also trapped in a love triangle and has to decide who she wants to be with more: Hawke, her closest friend or Stiller (who makes an excellent directorial debut), someone who loves Lelaina but also wants to profit from her documentary.
There are cameos from actors such as Renee Zellweiger, David Spade, and Swoozie Kurtz (who plays Lelaina's mother in one scene).
This film is one of my favorite movies of all time and is one that should be more well-known. It also has a fiere soundtrack, featuring artists like the Knack (Sharona), and Lisa Loeb, so I highly suggest you buy that as well.
"There's no point to all of this. It's just a random lottery of meaningless tragedy and a series of near escapes. So I take pleasure in the details. You know... a quarter-pounder with chesse, those are good, the sky before it starts to rain, the moment where your laughter becomes a cackle... and I, I sit back and smoke my Camel Straights and I ride my own melt..."-Troy from Reality Bites...
SO BUY THE MOVIE!

Reality Does Bite, but This Movie Rocks
In what was perhaps one of the most overhyped movies at the time, "Reality Bites" proves to be in the Zeitgeist of the mid- '90s but for different reasons than you might thing.

It was not the movie that came to define a generation in story, tone, or soundtrack the way "The Graduate" captured the moments of its time (for that you should watch "Singles"). "Reality Bites" did, however, capture the what was expected of the generation - to be unemployed, irrevent, speak in a pop-culture lingo, and wrestle with the meaning of irony. In spite of what expectations were placed on the generation (or the movie), "Reality Bites" remains funny ten years later.

Watch to see the last of Winona Ryder's great roles as she struggles with her relationship with Ethan Hawke. Enjoy the moment when we are introduced to Janeane Garofalo as she shimmies to "My Sharona." And enjoy the film that brought Ben Stiller into the mainstream as a leading actor.

The anniversary DVD is a great opportunity to rediscover the movie and appreciate the on-screen appearences of up and coming Gen-X Hollwood - David Spade, Renee Zellweger, and Steve Zahn all appear. And be sure to check out Lisa Loeb's music video for "Stay," as directed by Hawke.

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