Reality Bites (PG-13, 1994)

REALITY BITES 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.

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.

Overall, the movie is not without charm or laughs, and although the ending is supposed to be happy, it is rather shallow. Anyone over 25 will find the main characters rather insufferable, while those under 25 might find it dated.

Studio: Universal Pictures
Director: Ben Stiller
Cast: Ben Stiller, Ethan Hawke, Winona Ryder
Genre: Comedy
Run time: 99 minutes
Theatrical release: February 18, 1994
DVD release: July 21, 1998
MPAA Rating: PG-13
MPAA explanation: some language, drug content and sensuality