Reviewed by Melissa Garza
“I’m the only real thing you have.” – Troy (Ethan Hawke)
Reality Bites is one of the treasures that came out of the 90s. It in so many ways represented the fears and the change of tone the decade was undertaking. I wonder if the generation of today can appreciate it or if it’s so out-of-date that relating is impossible.
The movie surrounds a group of friends undergoing different life crises. Vickie (Janeane Garofalo) is finding out whether she has HIV. Sammy (Steve Zahn) is trying to find the right words to tell his mother he’s gay. Lelaina (Winona Ryder) doesn’t know what to do after being valedictorian of her college. She applies for jobs and is either over, under, or differently qualified. Lastly, Troy (Ethan Hawke), the philosopher, is in love with Lelaina who is dating Michael (Ben Stiller) a TV executive who is trying to sell a documentary Lelaina made to his network In Your Face TV (think MTV in the 90s).
In an odd way this is a feel-good emotional film with great passion. I love Winona Ryder because she reminds me of my best friend – and my best friend is the coolest cat in the land.
It’s deep, but not too deep to be pretentious. In fact, it purposely makes fun of itself way too soon for it to ever be considered pretentious. It’s heartfelt and refreshing. Despite, it bashing you over the head with everything 90s (I love you Dave Pirner), it still plays just as real as it did then. Maybe that’s nostalgic talking or my memory of getting a phone call at a diner and getting unnecessary negative looks by the waitress for tying up her line. Life before cell phones was fun – more exciting – and there was something wonderful about people only being able to get ahead of you when you wanted them to know where you were. Sure, we could shut off our cell phones and stop texting for a day – but my God could today’s generation survive? I’d like to see that challenge taken by today’s youth.
Great soundtrack too!! U2, Lisa Loeb are.f’n fantastic! Also, as for the youth, I wonder if they’d relate to the innocence that the original Real World conveyed as that is basically what they show you on In Your Face TV. Sure, it wasn’t up to Lelaina’s standards but for complete mind-numbing garbage, it wasn’t that bad.
This is one film I’d love to see them make a sequel to and show how these people turn out.
Great acting. I love Ethan Hawke. I wish he was in more! Steve Zahn is always a treat and seeing him all baby-faced here is just sweet.
Overall Rating 8/10
I love this film too. It is one that I have watched over and over because it never gets old. The music is great, the characters are good. Ethan Hawke is very sexy as Troy and Ben Stiller is great as the yuppie Michael. It is not just a throwaway romantic tale, though, there is some depth to it and it is a real gem which I will always enjoy watching!! Good review!
I couldn’t agree more!! It’s a Great flick that’s really deep.