Reality Bites (1994)

A documentary filmmaker and her fellow Gen X graduates face life after college, looking for work and love in Houston.

Director:

Ben Stiller

Writer:

Helen Childress

Stars:

Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, Janeane Garofalo

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Winona Ryder	...	Lelaina Pierce
Ethan Hawke	...	Troy Dyer
Janeane Garofalo	...	Vickie Miner
Steve Zahn	...	Sammy Gray
Ben Stiller	...	Michael Grates
Swoosie Kurtz	...	Charlane McGregor
Harry O'Reilly	...	Wes McGregor
Susan Norfleet	...	Helen Anne Pierce
Joe Don Baker	...	Tom Pierce
Renée Zellweger	...	Tami (as Renee Zellweger)
James Rothenberg	...	Rick
John Mahoney	...	Grant Gubler
Eric Morgan Stuart	...	Damien (as Eric Stuart)
Barry Del Sherman	...	Grant's Producer (as Barry Sherman)
Chelsea Lagos	...	Troy Groupie

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

generation x | boy wearing glasses | depression | houston texas | love | 

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Taglines:

A comedy about love in the '90s.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some language, drug content and sensuality

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 February 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

La dura realidad

Filming Locations:

409 West Clay Street, Houston, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$11,500,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$20,982,557

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$33,351,557

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jersey Films,Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min 94 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The psychic friend who Lelaina calls is voiced by Ben Stiller's real-life sister, Amy Stiller.

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Goofs

The camera angle changes in the final camcorder shot of Lelaina saying "...and you wondered why we never got involved."

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Quotes

Troy Dyer: I'm bursting with fruit flavor.

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Alternate Versions

The Australian print only runs 94 minutes, and most notably actors Kevin Pollak and Jeanne Tripplehorn do not appear.

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Connections

References Melrose Place (1992)

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Soundtracks

Conjunction Junction
Written by Bob Dorough (as Robert Dorough)
Performed by Ethan Hawke, Winona Ryder, Janeane Garofalo, Steve Zahn

User Reviews

This is my life...

This is a much better film than the consensus would have it. in fact, I would say it bids fair to become a classic (it certainly will serve cultural historians of the nineties well...) Compared to "Singles", a superficially similar film released a couple of years earlier, "Reality Bites" is so much more, well, biting... Not to say that I don't like Singles, it's cute, but the movie in question here is much more than that. I could really empathize with these characters, especially Rider's Lelaina Pierce. It's hard to hang on to ideals in the real world (guess that's why I'm back at university). The script is REALLY good, almost every line is funny or incisive or both. The acting is first-rate- so they're playing themselves, so what! Does that make it any less enjoyable? I don't think so... This is a superior romantic-comedy, set amongst the same noncomformist set that enlivened the screwball comedies of the thirties, and it works just as well...