Reality Bites (1994)

Winona was great.Ben was average, directing was decent.Steve and Jan were barely there.And Ethan was a complete failure. He is the pivot point that does not turn.There is no poignancy to this narrative.There is nothin funny about this movie. 'Nuff said.

Reality Bites is a movie I can currently relate with, as I have been recently suffering through post-college trauma. The movie has such a relatable premise, but I feel it could have been just a little better. But watching the movie provided me with the feeling that I am not alone in this ordeal. The movie was written pretty well and this is Ben Stiller's directorial debut, so a movie like this is not a bad way to begin a directing career.Stiller's film is about a TV production assistant named Lelaina who is creating a documentary about post-grad life with her three friends: Troy who is a philosophical unemployed slacker, Vicki who is the manager of Gap, and Sammy who is trying to find his sexuality. When she meets Michael, an executive at an MTV-like studio, there is a chance her documentary can now go public. The film is reasonably acted. Winona Ryder does a pretty good job as Lelaina, even if she seems a little whiny. I liked Ethan Hawke's character as his philosophy reminded of his character in the Before Sunrise series. Ben Stiller had a limited role, but he did a solid job. I also like Steve Zahn as the man trying to find out who he is. Overall, Reality Bites is a decent movie because mainly it has a theme that people my age can relate to. The path to show this theme may not work as effective, but the movie was still mostly entertaining. I will say that the documentary shots got a little annoying at times, but the narrative itself is quite good. My Grade: B

-- SPOILER -- When Lelaine comes back angry and disappointed from the "premier" of her show and Troy declares his love and they have sex, I had an uneasy feeling, the scene is presented as romantic with romantic lighting, romantic guitar, etc. (and I bet many people probably taught "how sweet"), but basically this is a scene where a person in a momentary state of weakness is emotionally pushed to do something.Now I don't say this scene depicts a full fledge SA, neither that the Troy character is "bad" (you don't have to have "bad" intentions to do regrettable things), nor that this kind of situation is not realistic (cause it is)... what bothered me the most I think was the choice of music, it should probably have been more dissonant, not some mellow mushy guitar.am I the only one ill-at-ease with this scene? Sorry for any misspell, English is my second language.

This is a film that does not deserve even one star, and although I listed it as such, it really gets zero from me. Simply put, it is the worst film of the 90s. The acting, particularly Hawke and Garafalo, stands out as being lame (Not that I cared about even one character in this film (Which even makes it worse than "Hot Tub Time Machine", who had at least one redeemable character)), and sad to say, the actors operated with a script that no one could possibly salvage. However, what is the worst is how the word "Comedy" pops up in the description of this film. There is not one scene in this film that can be classified as giggle worthy (Let alone funny). It certainly is one of the worst films I have ever saw in my life. The film is brutal, and should be avoided at all costs.