(PG-13) (Language, sex)
Date Released: 2/18/94
Running Length: 1:39
Starring: Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, Janeane Garofalo,
Steve Zahn, Ben Stiller
Director: Ben Stiller
Producers: Danny DeVito and Michael Shamberg
Screenplay: Helen Childress
Music: Karl Wallinger
Released by Universal Pictures
Cinemastuff Rating: ***
Reality Bites. Boy does it ever. Reality that is. Not this movie.
I first saw this movie about four years ago when I was still in college. It was billed at the time as THE Generation X movie. That meant it was either the first Gen-X movie or it was the best. I think it was probably just the first to be geared exclusively to Gen-X. I think I am barely part of Gen-X so I figured that as a movie buff I should see this movie since it was supposedly a statement for our times.
I have to admit that the first time I saw this movie, I was not crazy about it. It wasn't particularly funny and it was just about a bunch of spoiled, slacker college grads dealing with life and for the most part, screwing things up. In short, I couldn't relate.
Oh what a difference four years makes. Suddenly I realize that this is a great movie and that a truer movie was never made about a generation. Today, I can completely relate to the characters in the movie and I see much of myself in almost all of them.
To summarize, the movie deals with five Gen-Xers who just finished college and now have to deal with reality. The most brilliant one, played by Ethan Hawke, gets fired from his job working at a newsstand for stealing a Snickers bar. The next most brilliant one is Winona Ryder, who was valedictorian of her university, but ultimately finds herself applying for a job at Weinerschnizel. Ben Stiller is the kinda slimy, but very successful college dropout who drives around talking on his car phone. The other characters are mostly scenery. Janine Graphalo is the manager at the Gap. Steve Zahn plays the gay character that has to deal with coming out of the closet to his parents. Very nineties. Very Gen-X.
This is actually a tremendous cast and I had forgotten that Steve Zahn was in it. He is actually one of my favorite comedic actors after having seen Suburbia. He plays a hilarious stoner in that movie and he cracks me up in every scene. (Anyone reading this should rent both Reality Bites and Suburbia as soon as you are finished)
The plot of the movie (if there is one) is not particularly inspiring or original. In fact, that is probably what turned me off to the movie. It is also not laugh-out-loud funny. It is however, smartly written with interesting characters.
When I saw this film years ago I related mostly to the Ben Stiller character who wears nice suits and ties and gets the girl (at least for a while). Now I suddenly find myself relating to the chief slackers in the movie: the genius who works at the newsstand and the valedictorian who hates her job. Why the change of heart on my part? Two words: reality bites.
After college, most people who have ideals and pay attention to the world around them become paradoxical jaded idealists. You come out of college thinking that you can change the world, or at least find a great job and excel at it. But after a few months, you find yourself repeating the words of Ethan Hawke in this movie: "I am under no obligation to make this world a better place." All you want to do is get a job at a newsstand where you can kick back, read, and pursue other interests like making a documentary or constructing a movie review web site. When you are a Gen-Xer college grad, you are either a slimy businessman, a valedictorian who hates his or her job or an intelligent slacker who only wants five dollars for cigarettes and coffee, plus some good conversation.
I think most people my age who watch this movie will see a lot of themselves in these characters and that is the ultimately the point of the movie. In real life, I am sadly closer to being the Ben Stiller character than the lovable slackers. In fact I just got back from a business trip to Texas, the kind of trip that Stiller would make in the movie. Ironically, Texas is also the location of this movie…. Makes ya wonder…..
The movie ends with our two favorite Gen-X slackers sitting on a couch. They are unemployed, but in love. Then a parent calls to ask why the credit card bill for gas is $600. I wouldn't have said this four years ago, but in my book that makes for a happy ending.
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