Reality Bites Reviews and Ratings



  • November 18, 2009
    This stands up as a period piece, but I think at the time it was meant to be a self-referential exercise in existentialist BS. Watching it now, it's really just grating and terrible. And it's also immature and shallow. And Ben Stiller is the cherry on top of this sundae of a terr...( read more)ible movie. Please don't watch this movie. There is nothing to be gained from it, except maybe a better appreciation of freedom from this movie.
  • November 16, 2009
    A great drama/comedy that is so surreal and relatable. One of my favorite things about it is that it isn't as dated as you'd think. A lot of the same issues are being dealt with today. I loved Ethan Hawke, he's such a brutally honest character. If only everyone could take a page ...( read more)out of his book once in a while. Winona Ryder was also really good at playing such a naive-yet-lovable character.
  • November 15, 2009
    good movie made me think about how much my younger life was so much better than my life is now.
  • November 12, 2009
    A classic film from the 90's. Showing a story about love and trying to live life after college. They always said this was a movie made for the generation X crowd? The film has a great cast with Ben Stiller, Ethan Hawke and Winona Ryder. Plus a good supporting cast as well. They s...( read more)tory is solid and I enjoyed it. Worth a watch.
  • November 10, 2009
    this movie is a classic...sometimes you don't even realize it but the best things are right under your nose the whole time...like falling in love with your bestfriend.
  • November 6, 2009
    Adorabile ritratto generazionale (come parlo?)
    Va beh, datemi un Ethan Hawke e fatemi felice.
  • September 14, 2009
    Can't remember this one, believe I saw it back in the day, but slept since then, LOL
  • September 1, 2009
    I fairly good watch with good performances all around. Some of the plot lacked in places and was really good at other points. I really enjoy Winona Ryder as an actress and this is one of the best films you can see her in. I like how the story is basically showing the good times a...( read more)nd the bad times individually between roommates and the documentary that Winona Ryder's character is making is putting all of these times and moments together in one package. Overall, some good dialogue and good moments. It's a good rental more or less.
  • August 29, 2009
    Reminds me how I try to be perfect but can only be human.
  • August 23, 2009
    Giovani, carini e disoccupati
  • August 9, 2009
    "'Evian' is 'Naive' spelled backwards."
    - Vickie

    Life. Jobs. Friends. Love. Life is always funnier when it happens to someone else. Reality Bites is an irreverent portrayal of the harsh realities of life after college captures the misadventures of Lelaina, ...( read more)an ambitious TV production assistant, and her relationships with her sarcastic roommate, Vickie, friends Sammy and Troy, and an ambitious video executive, Michael. As her search for good jobs is difficult Lelaina chronicles her lives of her friends on film.

    Directed by Ben Stiller, Reality Bites features great acting performances from the following cast:
    1.) Winona Ryder (Lelaina)
    2.) Ethan Hawke (Troy)
    3.) Ben Stiller (Michael)
    4.) Janeane Garofalo (Vickie)
    5.) Steve Zahn (Sammy)

    Reality Bites is the best film portrayal of a postgraduate life where, even if you're the valedictorian, it is often difficult to find the most desirable jobs and romance relationships. When I watched this I was surprised with many of the Generation X references throughout, whether by picture or by spoken dialogue, although the time setting was in the mid-'90s. The way Lelaina was chronicling her life on film was close to being The Real World to me. Nice to see the great acting performances from our characters - I was surprised with the short David Spade appearance at the burger joint! Plus, the soundtrack has a good selection of tracks to fit with the sequences and to keep them moving, including Lisa Loeb's #1 hit "Stay (I Missed You)". Beyond Reality Bites, the good thing about me is that, unlike the characters here, I'm still in college now, so I don't have to worry about the difficulties of life after graduation. :)
  • August 5, 2009
    Reminds me a bit of what I'm going through after college.
  • July 14, 2009
    I hadn't seen this movie in so long. I forgot how much I love it.
  • July 10, 2009
    Ben Stiller is in it so I NEED 2 SEE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • July 1, 2009
    if you like romantic comedies heres a movi that will sizzle it up for you...
  • June 28, 2009
    Great cast but the movie really bites as average it's actually a pointview of generation X but it's really not that far from reality now...

    Film about four recent college graduates, and how difficult it is to find good jobs (even if you''re the valedictorian) and romance afte...( read more)r college.

    In this study of Generation X manners, Lelaina, the valedictorian of her college class, camcords her friends in a mock documentary of posteducation life. Troy is her best friend, a perpetually unemployed musical slacker. Vickie is a manager at the Gap who worries about the results of an AIDS test, while Sammy has problems grappling with his sexuality. When Lelaina meets Michael, an earnest video executive who takes her homemade video to his MTV-like station, she must decide what she values--the materialism of yuppie Michael or the philosophical musings of Troy.
  • June 27, 2009
    not so biting than expected
  • June 17, 2009
    Reality Bites is a timeless cult classic still relevant to the plight some post-secondary students face after graduation. Lelaina's aspires to make the world a better place. She is aware of injustice and corporate evil after her college graduation, yet she lives in a society wh...( read more)ere corporations are inescapable. The young main characters are believable and easily likable. This film provides a great dose of 90s nostalgia. I'd give it a higher rating if I liked the ending.
  • June 10, 2009
    "Hello you have reached the winter of our discontent"

    Loved this movie so freakin much!!
  • June 9, 2009
    It was kinda good movie I was expecting a lil bit more drama or climax in this movie but it was all kinda mellow all through out. In this study of Generation X manners, Lelaina, the valedictorian of her college class, camcords her friends in a mock documentary of posteducation li...( read more)fe. Troy is her best friend, a perpetually unemployed musical slacker. Vickie is a manager at the Gap who worries about the results of an AIDS test, while Sammy has problems grappling with his sexuality. When Lelaina meets Michael, an earnest video executive who takes her homemade video to his MTV-like station, she must decide what she values the materialism of yuppie Michael or the philosophical musings of Troy.
  • May 25, 2009
    Holds up surprisingly well despite what you may think.
  • May 4, 2009
    "sex is the quickest way to ruin a friendship"
  • May 1, 2009
    The film focuses on four friends living in Houston, Texas. Long-time friend, temporary roommate and coffee-house guitarist Troy (Hawke) and budding filmaker Lelaina (Ryder) are attracted to each other, though it's an attraction that neither of them has really acted upon, one alco...( read more)hol-influenced event in the past notwithstanding. He's a slacker and nihilist grunge rock musician by night, while losing job after job in a series of minimum wage dead end endeavors during the day - the last of which he loses early in the film because of stealing a candy bar from his employer. Leleina on the other hand was valedictorian of her university, and has aspirations to become a documentarian, although initially having to settle for a position as production assistant to an obnoxious tv host.

    Lelaina meets Michael (Ben Stiller) in what filmmakers call a meet cute scene: by accident, 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 as an executive, and after learning about a documentary she's been working on, he wants to get it aired on his network.

    Lelaina's roommate Vickie (Janeane Garofalo) has a series of one-night stands and short relationships with dozens of guys, motivated by a fear of being alone compounded by a fear of rejection; her promiscuity leads her to confront a very-real risk of contracting AIDS. Vickie works as a sales associate for The Gap. She is later promoted to manager. (A position that she appears to be content with.)

    Friend Sammy (Steve Zahn) is gay; he remains celibate, not because of a fear of AIDS, but because forming a relationship would force him to come out to his parents.

    After an impulsive act of retribution, Lelaina loses her job, which causes some tension with her roommates.

    When Troy's father dies, he forces himself to reevaluate his priorities, deciding to attempt a relationship with Lelaina. Meanwhile, Lelaina's relationship with Michael dissolves after he helps her sell the documentary to his network, only to let them edit it in a way that compromises her artistic vision.

    Eventually, Vickie's AIDS test comes back negative and Sammy comes out to his parents and the two manage to resume their lives amicably. Troy and Lelaina reunite after Troy returns from his father's funeral and make amends. While we do not see what happens to Michael, during the credits there is an abrupt break where two characters, "Laina" and "Roy," who are obvious parodies of Lelaina and Troy, have an argument about their relationship and as the "show's" credits roll, Michael's name is revealed as the producer, implying that he has turned the failed relationship into the subject of a new show on his network.
  • April 20, 2009
    «This is all we need. A couple of smokes, a cup of coffee, and a little bit of conversation. You and me and five bucks.»
  • April 8, 2009
    ES GRACIOSA Y LINDA A LA VEZ LA RECOMIENDO
  • April 6, 2009
    I was seven years old when i saw this one somehow when i grew up it became a pattern for my lovelife..haha
  • April 5, 2009
    A sweet 80s movie that has some fun moments.
  • April 5, 2009
    I own this movie & the soundtrack ! EXCELLENT
  • March 13, 2009
    i loved this movie....and how cute was ethan? great movie!!!
  • March 6, 2009
    I can watch this movie a million times and still love it!
  • February 13, 2009
    i can not forget the line " you hurt me over and over and over again but i still love you". sometimes you neglect the most important person in your life....
  • February 3, 2009
    http://static5.flixster.com/static/images/done.gif
  • January 27, 2009
    la película de la generación X no se si podría llamarla tanto pero esta claro que reflejar ciertas posiciones, el casting me gusta y la fotografía es muy de mi gusto
  • January 21, 2009
    Very unassuming yet speak of the the angst and yearning of young people in the nineties.
  • January 12, 2009
    At times poignant and relatable, but constantly undermined by hackneyed plot points and an over-saturation of 90s pop culture. Sure the 90s were fun, but it just tried too hard to be hip that it got a little lost in the TV and music references. Janeane Garofalo is at her least an...( read more)noying, though that's still pretty grating, while Winona Ryder is so fidgety I wanted to shove some Ritalin down her throat. On the other hand, Ben Stiller, Steve Zahn and Ethan Hawke were highly enjoyable in their roles. Although I didn't find the plot particularly engrossing or original, there were moments of depth which makes this a worthwhile watch, especially for the 20-something embarking on a career.
  • January 4, 2009
    It simply carries my teenage memory.
  • January 3, 2009
    on Celtic Poet's recomendation for Ethan hawke's role!
  • January 1, 2009
    Captures mid 90's 20-something life pretty on point... I just didn't get that they were in Houston and only ryder's dad had any kind of texas accent
  • December 29, 2008
    Yay! Gen Xers in love, or something like it. Doesn't age well, but worth it just to watch Garafalo.
  • December 26, 2008
    A very low budget film with no actual plot. I still like it. Winona Ryder does a great job bringing you into her world. Good music too.
  • December 24, 2008
    She should have ended up with Ben Stiller's character.
  • December 22, 2008
    love it- soundtrack gr8- troy n lainey characters gr8. michael so ugly
  • December 16, 2008
    kind of slow at times
  • December 12, 2008
    even it's hard to understand the words,quotations,etc. for non-english people, but i like this movie cos it tell us how hard to find a good job nowadays...
  • December 10, 2008
    ini film gua tonton waktu kuliah, kerasa banget generation X-nya. Banyak yang dikupas dari film ini, merintis awal karier, anti kemapanan, masalah gay ampai urusan cinta

Summary


Reality Bites Summary