Product Description

AN ASPIRING FILMMAKER FOLLOWS THE PATHS OF HER FRIENDS AFTER THEY GRADUATE FROM COLLEGE IN TEXAS.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8700 in DVD
• Brand: Universal Studios
• Released on: 2004-06-08
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: Spanish, French
• Dubbed in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 99 minutes

Amazon.com
Ben Stiller's directorial debut was this sporadically successful twentysomething comedy that tries too hard to codify the generational experience of its young adult characters. Winona Ryder plays a still-unformed woman struggling with career and relationship issues, Janeane Garofalo portrays her best friend, and Ethan Hawke and Stiller play the two lovers pursuing her. The story is as also about generation-X confusion over how to get by in a hand-me-down world with not much to get excited about, a world filled with a pop culture currency of bad music and poetry slams. The film's chief strength is its appealing cast, which is bolstered by appearances from David Spade, Renee Zellweger, Kevin Pollak, Jeanne Triplehorn, and Stiller's mother, Anne Meara. --Tom Keogh

From The New Yorker
Ben Stiller's film is a romantic comedy about what has come to be called Generation X. The characters are just out of college, and they're not thrilled about their prospects: they're overeducated and underemployed, and no one seems to know, or care, what they're going through. The script, by Helen Childress, is packed with knowing pop-culture references, and the soundtrack is filled with the music of college-radio favorites like World Party and Juliana Hatfield. The picture has its charms: Stiller's direction gives it an appropriately loose, drifting rhythm; Winona Ryder, in the central role, has a fresh, natural style that makes even the most contrived dialogue sound authentic. But the story is essentially a thin and conventional romantic triangle, straight out of thirties Hollywood; the filmmakers try to disguise the fluffiness by unleashing a torrent of trash-culture allusions and sociological truisms. When the movie is over, you don't feel as if you had shared the experience of a new generation; you feel puzzled and vaguely crummy, as if you had just read a solemn news-magazine cover story about it. Also with Stiller, Ethan Hawke, Janeane Garofalo, Steve Zahn, and John Mahoney. -Terrence Rafferty
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

A classic!
This movie changed my life. How? The books that the character 'Troy' (Ethan Hawke) either reads or references in the movie. Sure, it's a great movie but what meant the most for me was the director's or writer's (or whoever it was) choice to use or reference the following books: Martin Heidegger's "Being and Time", Robert Pirsig's "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" and John Steinbeck's "The Winter of Our Discontent". Read those books and you will be forever changed!

An honest look at a drifting generation
The opening speech by Lelaina (Winona Ryder) at the beginning sets an accurate mood for the rest of the film: optimism tinged with confusion and a lack of direction. In reality, the young adults in this film depict only a small slice of their generation, those who "aren't interested in the counterculture that they [our parents] invented as if we did not see them disembowel their revolution for a pair of running shoes." I may be a few years behind the generation portrayed in the film, but I'm not entirely without empathy for the restless plight of this group of slackers. Even so, the speech is a horrible oversimplification of the generation gap of the time, and the film is more easily digested if the core group of characters is seen as only one slice of a very large generation.

There is a lot of similarity between Reality Bites and films like Garden State and Harold and Maude, sharing the same ennui and restlessness that seems insatiable and overwhelming. The striking difference, though, is Reality Bites' strong sense of friendship and community as a means of overcoming this ennui. I felt that if any of these characters were left entirely to himself, he would commit suicide, and the core group of friends is what saved them all.

Unfortunately, their friendships are not enough to keep them from slipping into a dangerous selfishness and narcissism: Lelaina refuses for a while to find a paying job, and only seems to be attracted to Troy (Ethan Hawke) because of the emotions he conjures up in her; Troy, even after saying that she is the only woman he could commit to, says, "You can't navigate me, I might do mean things, and I might hurt you and I might run away without your permission"; Vickie (Janeane Garofalo) is addicted to sex but hates the thought of a lasting relationship; and Sammy (Steve Zahn) is full of wounded pride. Michael (Ben Stiller) is intellectually shallow, but he seems to be the only person with any emotional maturity, and he easily sees through Troy's snobby attitude.

ENDING SPOILERS: The film ends with a romance between Lelaina and Troy that seems destined to end badly if Troy doesn't wise up and accept the criticism that's been levelled at him. There's a part of me that cheered for him, but a larger part that wanted to smack him in the face until he wised up and applied for grad school. The problem with these kids is that they are immature, and have no ideal of maturity to attain to. Their parents (of the rebellious 60s generation) rejected their own parents' ideas of maturity, and so their own children have very little left to work with. Reality Bites is more of a romantic tragedy than a romantic comedy, even though it seems to turn out well in the end. I really wanted the characters to find something better to build their lives on, but when the credits rolled I was afraid they would just keep repeating their mistakes for the rest of their lives.

For what it's worth, the acting and directing are quite good, though not great. I got a kick out of seeing so many big-name actors at a younger age. Ben Stiller's direction is good, and not as manic as what he later did in Zoolander. Unfortunately there aren't any special features except production notes and a forgettable trailer.

Favorite Romantic Comedy of the 90's
The first time I saw this movie was on HBO. But then I had gotten it on video and now DVD. It's timeless and still fits into today's culture. Since the 90's of course wasn't that too long ago. Winona Ryder who plays college graduate Lelaina Pierce who likes to make documentaries. She is making a documentary of her friends who are played by: Ethan Hawke (Troy), the funny Janeane Garofalo (Vickie), Steve Zahn (Sammy), and Ben Stiller (Michael). Each of them goes through their own troubles Troy's father is suffering from Cancer and is dying, Vickie worries that she might have AIDS, Sammy is struggling to tell his parents that he's gay...and Lelania is stuck in the middle of a love triangle between Michael and Troy. It's realistic thrown in with great comedy and a great cast and storyline. Not to mention it has a great soundtrack. (You may also try to see if you can spot another upcoming star Renee Zellweger in the movie :).

The DVD in itself is a great buy. It is in a widescreen format. And has theatrical trailers, and also production notes of the movie. If your a fan of the movie this is the DVD for you.