Saturday, December 27, 2014


Movie Review

Reality Bites (1994)

February 18, 1994

Review/Film; Coming of Age in Snippets: Life as a Twentysomething

Published: February 18, 1994

There are many ways to peg the twentysomething generation, but none funnier, more accurate or less pretentious than by using the details that stick to characters like a second skin in "Reality Bites." On their college graduation day, the film's heroes -- Lelaina, Vickie, Troy and Sammy -- gather on a rooftop in Houston to smoke cigarettes, drink beer and sing "Conjunction Junction," a Saturday-morning cartoon snippet that helped educate them. Higher education is fine, but as a life-shaping experience it's just no match for television.

Lelaina (Winona Ryder) is the center of the film and of its romantic triangle. An aspiring film maker and her class valedictorian, she is taping a documentary about her friends. The audience sees snippets of this throughout "Reality Bites," a technique that offers a visual tie to the MTV generation without becoming intrusive. "I kind of made a promise to myself that I wouldn't think about where it was going to end up," Lelaina says of her film. "I didn't want to unintentionally commercialize it." That's not a problem "Reality Bites" has, and that mainstream sleekness accounts for a great deal of its charm. This film is "Slacker" without the slackness, intentionally commercial and breezily entertaining.

"Reality Bites" is directed by the comedian Ben Stiller with a sure comic touch and a feel for the texture of lives that are pretty much all texture and no forward drive. This generation has the overwhelming sense that ambition is wasted on the old. Helen Childress, the 23-year-old screenwriter, perfectly captures the slightly defensive wit of people like Lelaina, who can hold up a giant soft-drink cup and announce, "The most profound, important invention of my life: the Big Gulp."

It takes a spectacular cast to pull off this kind of meandering romantic comedy, and "Reality Bites" couldn't have done better. After "The Age of Innocence," it comes as a surprise to find Ms. Ryder acting and looking like the kid she is.

Lelaina has a brief stint as an intern at a local television show called "Good Morning, Grant." John Mahoney does a wicked satiric turn as the empty-headed, ever-smiling talk-show host, the most vapid television star since Ted Baxter.

When Lelaina is fired, it's time for platitudes from her parents. Her father (Joe Don Baker) says she's got to use a little ingenuity. Her mother (Swoosie Kurtz) says: "You're just going to have to swallow your pride. Why don't you get a job at Burger-rama?" Sound familiar? Generations come and go but some things never change.

Vickie (Janeane Garofalo) carries around a "Charlie's Angels" lunch box and keeps a diary of all the men she has slept with. She's up to No. 66, though she isn't sure of his name. Vickie becomes a manager at the Gap and demonstrates for Lelaina's documentary how to use a little plastic board to fold a sweater. "People don't know," she says with delicious mock-seriousness as she folds away. "They don't know what it takes."

When Lelaina begins hanging around the house, smoking and running up a big bill by calling a 900-number psychic hotline, Vickie has to pull her out of it. "Man, you are in the Bell Jar," she says.

Troy (Ethan Hawke) is Lelaina's best friend, a glassy-eyed, ruddy-faced guitarist who always looks stoned. Mr. Hawke's subtle and strong performance makes it clear that Troy feels things too deeply to risk failure and admit he's feeling anything at all. "He will turn this place into a den of slack," Lelaina says when Troy loses his job and Vickie invites him to move into their shared apartment. As in any classic Hollywood romance, Troy and Lelaina are obviously in love. But they can't admit it until another suitor comes along and almost steals her away.

Mr. Stiller plays the rival, a good-hearted yuppie named Michael who works for a slick and shallow MTV-style network called In Your Face TV. The real MTV took no offense. In fact, they ran a "Reality Bites" contest, sending winners to the film's premiere last month at the Sundance Film Festival. Mr. Stiller, who briefly had a comedy show on MTV and later on the Fox network (both called "The Ben Stiller Show"), knows that the line between satire and reality is shadow-thin. "Reality Bites" walks that line with perfect balance. If it featured unknown actors and had less-funny lines, it might be MTV's "Real Life" series. And like MTV, its music is a mix of up-to-the-minute and trendy retro-70's.

Sammy (Steve Zahn), the friend who is gay but afraid of a relationship, is the only underwritten character. His function is to be supportive and let his friends take all the best lines.

When Lelaina wonders why life can't flow along as neatly as "The Brady Bunch," Troy says, "Because Mr. Brady died of AIDS." It's a rare moment of seriousness for the character and the film, and Mr. Hawke stops short of making it portentous. That's smart, because the best joke here is that "Reality Bites" doesn't have much bite and doesn't intend to. Like the generation it presents so appealingly, it doesn't see any point in getting all bent out of shape and overambitious. But it knows how to hang out and have a great time.

"Reality Bites" is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). It includes strong language and hints at drug use. Reality Bites Directed by Ben Stiller; written by Helen Childress; director of photography, Emmanuel Lubezki; edited by Lisa Churgin; music by Karl Wallinger; production designer, Sharon Seymour; produced by Danny DeVito and Michael Shamberg; released by Universal. Running time: 99 minutes. This film is rated PG-13. Lelaina Pierce . . . Winona Ryder Troy Dyer . . . Ethan Hawke Vickie Miner . . . Janeane Garofalo Sammy Gray . . . Steve Zahn Michael Grates . . . Ben Stiller Charlane McGregor . . . Swoosie Kurtz Tom Pierce . . . Joe Don Baker Grant Gubler . . . John Mahoney

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