Reality Bites - PG-13

Too-precious 90s comedy about twenty-something slackers. Not for kids.

Rating: PG-13 for some language, drug content and sensuality Studio: Universal Studios Directed By: Ben Stiller Cast: Ethan Hawke, Winona Ryder Running Time: 99 minutes Release Date: 02/18/1994 Genre: Comedy

Common Sense Note

Parents should know that this film features 20-something recent college graduates who drink, smoke, and sleep around. There are few consequences for their behavior, save for a very mild subplot in which one of the characters takes an AIDS test (she tests negative). However, the characters generally mean well, and parents who don't object to depictions of sex and drug/alcohol use may find their behavior towards each other acceptable.

Families who watch this movie might want to talk about movies' responsibility. Should movies that target teens and 20-year-olds simply reflect their behavoir -- or does seeing characters drink, smoke and have casual sex on screen glamorize their behavior?

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Joyce Slayton

Boy, oh boy do the characters who inhabit REALITY BITES love to talk. They talk about their love lives, their search for meaningful work, their favorite TV shows. They talk about their lame parents, their boring jobs, their slacker friends. It's not that all the talk isn't occasionally amusing; on the contrary, the dialogue is smart and bubblegum-culture-savvy enough to provoke chuckles amongst Gen X parents. It's just that the characters take themselves so incredibly seriously, and never shut up.

The film opens with a speech in which college valedictorian and fledgling documentarian Lelaina (Winona Ryder) expresses her general dissatisfaction with the world she's about to take on. That vague angst is the most consistent plot thread running through the film as Lelaina and her three buddies Vickie (Janeane Garofalo), Sammy (Steve Zahn), and Troy (Ethan Hawke) labor at worthless jobs, play drinking games, cavort for Lelaina's documentary cameras, and look for love. Lelaina and Troy seem meant for each other, but when she (literally) bumps into an older, slicker television executive (Ben Stiller), a predictable love triangle ensues. And though the ending is supposed to be happy, it is rather shallow.

Overall, the movie is not without charm or laughs, but anyone over 25 will find the main characters rather insufferable. And those under 25 might find it dated.

Other movies starring Ben Stiller include Mystery Men or Meet the Parents.

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Content		CS	adults	kids
Content
Sexual Content Characters are shown engaging in casual sex with multiple partners. One character has an HIV scare.
Violence
Language
Message
	Social Behavior The characters generally mean well, but they take everything from sex to drug use very casually.
	Commercialism Characters explicitly discuss the merits of the Big Gulp. Dominos is mentioned and is featured in the narrative as is Evian.
	Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco Characters are shown smoking cigarettes and marijuana and drinking beer and other alcohol.