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Reality Bites
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Reality Bites

1994
Romance, Comedy
1h 39m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 44.68% from 1586 total ratings

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(1586)
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Rated 31 Mar 2023
75
30th
Oh, the ennui of Generation X. A pretentious movie full of insufferable characters making terrible decisions. '90s college-age navel-gazing at its most aggravating. I'm not convinced Ethan Hawke was even acting here. It does have a cool soundtrack, so points for that.
Rated 23 Sep 2007
1
10th
So self-consciously hip and pretentious that it made my butt-hole hurt. Fuck this god-damned movie.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
25
7th
This film suffers from a conflict: on the one hand, it evinces a desire to express some kind of significance; on the other hand, it is even more clearly aimed at a "target audience". The degree to which this movie is conceived as a product for a particular niche of consumers ends up undermining the meaningfulness it strives too hard to attain. In the end, the experience turns out to be utterly unpleasant.
Rated 13 Apr 2009
29
2nd
Please kill me so I don't have to listen to these insufferable twerps wax sardonic about their lives in front of a camera held by a blind person having an epileptic fit.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
27
1st
One of the worst films I've ever seen. Just terrible. All of the reasons I hate people are in this movie. If it were a satire, that'd be acceptable. But it's not, so it's just sad.
Rated 25 Jun 2020
65
48th
I remember when I used to think this would be the worst generation ever. Oh nostalgia!
Rated 02 Aug 2011
66
41st
Movie was alright, but the ending fucking sucks. What can you expect, I guess? Ben Stiller more or less did everything right, and Wynona Ryder still goes for Ethan Hawke? God, I was hoping Hawke was going to overdose or commit suicide or something. Fuck that. Steve Zahn is always awesome, though, so points there. God, I thought my generation was bad, but the decade ahead of me was full of shit heads.
Rated 17 Nov 2009
30
15th
Kind of insulting as an attempt to relate to a supposed "Generation X".
Rated 08 Feb 2008
67
16th
Cloyingly earnest...maaaaaan.
Rated 28 Jan 2019
35
14th
I should maybe score this higher, if only because it represents a moment in time so well. Unfortunately, the film around it is grating. I love Ethan Hawke. I am hawt for Hawke. This film made me hate Hawke.
Rated 21 May 2009
20
44th
Young love in and for the Nineties -- which apparently entails a preoccupation with the Seventies: TV reruns, goldie oldies, wall posters (_Saturday Night Fever_, _Love Story_), memorabilia ("Charlie's Angels" lunchbox). The script, about a one-for-all-and-all-for-one foursome of college grads, is riddled with observations on the level of "Evian is naive spelled backward." And the indulgence of these people seems somehow an accurate match for, or projection of, their self-indulgence.
Rated 25 Jun 2014
67
67th
Stiller does a good work directing his friends, but so does Lubezki. The great DP frames the characters so gently -- and in such informative locations, as the couch (yep), the coffee place, the empty urban places of Houston -- that empathy comes with just a look, like watching TV -- actually, this is such an important visual element here. Winona brings one of her best performances as this journalist struggling with career and love and shooting a VCR doc about her friends.
Rated 26 Nov 2009
74
39th
You just wanna punch the pretentious Hawke.
Rated 23 Nov 2010
50
21st
Pretentious: The Movie. Steve Zahn and Janeane Garofalo give pretty great performances, and there are a lot of little parts from a lot of actors that you'll probably recognize (Keith David, David Spade, etc.). Winona Ryder's character is almost completely unlikeable, but she's fine compared to Ethan Hawke's character. He's like every shitty intellectual musician/artist cliche you've ever seen in film. You can't root for him at all, even with Stiller's character being a moron.
Rated 29 Jul 2008
30
17th
God I hate this flick. I Just say no to this film, while simultaneously saying yes to drugs... Toe knee :-)
Rated 12 Feb 2008
50
28th
Reality bites...almost as much as this trite movie that catered to the genxers.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
90
82nd
Smart, funny and sincere, but not quite the movie it purports to be - meaning that it captures the sentiment of that generation. It almost does, but not quite.
Rated 26 Jan 2009
10
15th
9 points for Ethan Hawke. This movie is really bad. I'd stick it in Ryder but she'd probably steal my wallet in the morning.
Rated 24 Oct 2015
70
57th
winona ryder. winona ryder. winona ryder. winona ryder. winona ryder.
Rated 02 Aug 2019
44
38th
I never thought I could be so happy to see Ben Stiller show up--he's about the only character in this that acts like something resembling an actual adult. He also plays the only character I can recognize as more or less real, as opposed to the caricatures everyone else gets to flail away at....perhaps it's one of the perks of being the director, too. Still, moderately enjoyable if you don't take it seriously... at all.
Rated 11 Aug 2019
64
66th
good movie
Rated 05 Sep 2010
46
61st
#00s(e)#, liked, oldies(2) }*{ #90s#, Winona R!
Rated 23 Mar 2013
72
70th
Decent exploration of ever-relatable themes, set in the grunge-y nineties.
Rated 24 Dec 2013
74
26th
i really liked the premise of the film, like the whole artsy college students trying to make it after they finish school. i also liked the cinematography of the film, with the documentary-style filmmaking. there's also something idealistic about the young lifestyle of the characters. but in terms of the plot and character, it was nothing special, and a little bit too 90s at times. ben stiller was much more tolerable though, and winona ryder was actually pretty .... oh how the times change.
Rated 28 Sep 2008
80
67th
THE 90s movie, yet it is rather mediocre. So, if that is THE 90s movie, what does it say about the 90s...?
Rated 21 Sep 2010
64
39th
There is a lot of vitriol towards this film, while incredibly dated and silly it isn't terrible. Just boring and lacking from interesting or sympathetic characters.
Rated 14 Dec 2016
85
74th
A charming bittersweet tale of a group of housemates, who are thrown into the jaws of reality and are all feeling slightly lost.They are their own family, cliquey in this cult gem.Ryder is a delight as Leilana with a slightly tortured entanglement with Troy (Hawke)that you just can't help hoping will endure into something more.All 4 lead characters though, will invite you right in,let you pull up a chair & be there while through socio-psychological chat, you figure it out & love may save the day
Rated 14 Aug 2007
81
55th
Early Ben Stiller, ey? This young man seems to have prom... aah, forget it, we're all watching Winona.
Rated 08 Jun 2009
90
80th
Another guilty pleasure, totally fall in love with the characters. Nostalgia.. Take me back to the 90s!
Rated 07 Dec 2011
77
43rd
winona is the difference between a 9 and a 79. oh wait, you might think i mean her acting. she's just super hot. calabria Out.
Rated 18 Aug 2009
72
34th
I like all of the actors in this film, but I thought it ended up being a bit boring and pretentious.
Rated 12 May 2008
5
44th
It has a lot of those pretentious asshole fags that usually make a movie suck but this is watchable, mostly cause of Ryder and Hawke.
Rated 14 Jun 2010
2
16th
Always hated this.
Rated 13 Sep 2013
70
66th
romantic comedies were so dark in the 90's. Just like Kevin Smith would like it, this has that "what does this all mean" and "what am I doing with myself" feeling.
Rated 16 Jul 2016
64
7th
(...)Immerhin bekommt man dadurch ein Gefühl für die 90er, die Antihaltung einer verwöhnten Generation. Hier nun die Idee für ein alternatives Ende: Michael offenbart Lelaina, dass ihr Video einfach grottenschlecht ist. Abspann.
Rated 17 Sep 2013
54
16th
I wish that was a good movie, but not so much. There's not enough room for the reality bites just as the film finishes introducing it self, and the love triangule establishes as the story's moto. What a waste.
Rated 01 Aug 2014
80
49th
Ethan Hawke, Ben Stiller and Winona Ryder shooting the shit, '90s style, for 90 minutes. That sounds like it would absolutely be in my wheelhouse, so it stands to reason that I really enjoyed this.
Rated 13 Feb 2009
72
44th
The 90's rule!
Rated 29 Dec 2006
51
19th
I just gave it the score Criticker predicted. I saw it once and thought it was ok. I guess I'm about 5 years too young to really appreciate this movie. I did like the Violent Femmes karoke (sp?) and Ethan Hawke only wears brown.
Rated 07 Apr 2008
62
17th
You'll probably really enjoy this if you don't find Ethan Hawke and Winona Ryder insufferable and pretentious. Good for the '90s.
Rated 24 Aug 2007
20
20th
Ben. Stiller. Sucks.
Rated 24 Feb 2008
60
20th
Winona...
Rated 23 Dec 2008
78
49th
1
Rated 01 Jul 2013
60
47th
Oh hey, young Ethan Hawke. Ben Stiller's first directed movie. Incredibly, incredibly 90s.
Rated 27 Sep 2010
35
10th
Ethan Hawke playing one of the most annoying characters in the history of film. His dialogue was so pretentious and so unrealistic. Steve Zahn's character was the only thing worthwhile in this film.
Rated 27 Dec 2009
70
88th
For whatever reason this really spoke to me when I first saw it in my early 20s, and that nostalgia helps in my continued enjoyment despite the fact I now recognise many of the faults present (unsympathetic characters, throwaway dialogue, underdeveloped story, etc.). One thing a decade has seriously altered is my identification with the male leads: today I root for Stiller's sensible nice guy over Hawke's immature wanker, and can't understand why we're supposed to be happy the latter wins out.
Rated 24 Apr 2015
75
79th
Is it weird that it bothers me? Selling is selling out, but boy, art does not pay the rent. Plus, in the end, you should go with the one that digs existentialism.
Rated 11 Oct 2010
70
30th
I didn't even remember its name! not that bad for seeing it once, although acting is good
Rated 27 Jan 2008
43
34th
If there's anything else you gotta see Winona Ryder without a bra during the WHOLE movie! Yaicks!
Rated 01 Dec 2010
35
18th
Augh fuck you generation x
Rated 26 Oct 2012
75
51st
There were definitely some parts that I thought needed to be fleshed out more. But I loved it.
Rated 20 Jun 2018
25
9th
Retrospectively it reads as accidental satire of both empty but pretentious youth disaffection, and the calculated exploitation of people who identified with same as a market. Though quite different stylistically, I think there is a parallel fake intelligence and pretend critique at play in HEATHERS (1989), though individual histories, tastes and tolerances will determine which is the more embarrassing and/or intolerable to sit through.
Rated 05 Apr 2013
98
89th
This was a fantastic film. The acting was great. The plot was wonderful. I liked how at some points they had mocumentary in it. The music was also very good. (I don't even like Ben Stiller and this was still a good movie)
Rated 21 Aug 2009
50
13th
A generation X engulfed in cliches.
Rated 09 Jan 2017
20
6th
I really remember nothing from this movie except I couldn't sit through it.
Rated 04 Jun 2007
60
47th
What a drab film
Rated 23 Aug 2007
37
38th
ok
Rated 15 Nov 2008
64
47th
Naive 90s nostalgia I loved as a teen that's at times overly precious and corny but comforting if you lived in the era and love chain-smoking skin deep cynics like I do. Janeane Garofalo is fabulous as usual though.
Rated 05 Dec 2007
85
68th
molto generazionale. molto carino
Rated 01 Feb 2011
60
39th
A period film about the relationship problems of a bunch of directionless kids living in Houston in the early nineties. A bunch of lotus eaters marking time in a barren consumerist paradise. Nothing's important. Nothing's interesting. There's nothing to do. Despite the jokes, a general undertone of spiritlessness and apathy pervades everything. Would be good but for some lapses into sentimentality.
Rated 13 May 2008
37
26th
This movie has surprisingly good street cred for being so mundane. As a naive teen in the 90s you'd probably like it, but in your late 20s near 2010 it's garbage. Possibly useful for precollege nostalgia, but not particularly inspired. Consider going out and having your own fucked up relationship instead of watching this one, you'll be better off in every sense.
Rated 07 Dec 2014
25
6th
The problems these people have seem to present these recent grads as hippies, unable to conform to societal demands. Yet the solution is just to remain unemployed until a "dream career" shows up - or have that dream career usurped by other people. 90 minutes spent on explaining to 22 year olds that yes, the outside world is just another system of control, and we all have to get over it, regardless of *how* they *want* to get over it. A total waste of time, with a vaguely redeeming soundtrack.
Rated 23 May 2007
30
10th
...So does this movie.
Rated 21 Feb 2017
41
29th
Ethan Hawke's Acting Bites
Rated 12 Jun 2015
45
17th
Ben Stiller's first film is a relic of the '90s, I guess, but not much else. It really didn't do much for me. I disliked all of the characters, and couldn't care less if any of them got together in the end. Also, Janeane Garofalo was not believable as a woman in her early 20s. Stiller's direction is fine, but the script felt contrived. I guess I might have liked it if I'd been part of the target audience in the mid-'90s, but I found watching it now to be tedious.
Rated 23 Jun 2022
70
31st
I like the first half when its content to just be a sort of hang out movie. Winona Ryder is a likable lead, and Garofalo and Zahn are well cast as supporting roles. Unfortunately a lot of the movie is very dated, with some extremely cringey dialogue. The romantic elements, especially Ethan Hawkes character, end up feeling forced. Reality Bites is not without its merits, but something like Noah Baumbach's Kicking and Screaming is a better more worthwhile take on post graduate malaise.
Rated 02 Jun 2008
73
73rd
Can you say "Gen X"?
Rated 19 Jul 2016
83
39th
3
Rated 01 Nov 2016
3
38th
Troy is the worst shit in any 90s movie, but on some level I enjoy watching this for how desperately Gen X it is.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
35
4th
As a member of the so-called "Generation X", I have to say this is the single most embarrassing thing to come out of that whole non-phenomenon. And that includes "OK Cola". However, at least it is slightly less awful than the "Generation Y" abomination Empire Records.
Rated 24 Oct 2007
70
32nd
And so does this boring movie.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
73
41st
every generation has thier garden state
Rated 02 May 2014
45
37th
I'm not sure what "university" Winona Rider's character graduated from but it must have been an uncredited junior college. Any valedictorian would never be such a clueless self indulgent deadbeat. Every character is an ineffectual douche bag 90's proto hipster...
Rated 14 Nov 2019
63
47th
The fact that I know so few people, yet have either been or met ALL of these characters, says a lot. It's a more honest film than most of us want to believe (just look at these distancing reviews). Why? Because the 18-34 demo is a weird, embarrassing, shameful period, no matter the generation. This film puts that foolishness under a microscope and it makes us cringe. Nobody wants to be depicted so damn accurately in such a harsh light. If you can laugh at yourself though, it's funny at times.
Rated 24 May 2018
5
44th
Ben Stiller 1.
Rated 13 Sep 2019
60
17th
I'm Gen X as fuck and I for sure watched and enjoyed this shit in my 20s. Watching it now... hahahhahaha, welp, very different. It was great that they included a sympathetic gay character *unfortunately played by a non-gay man, as per Hollywood standards* but the three leads are just kind of unlikeable. Didn't stop me from watching it a thousand times in the 90s though, hahahaha.
Rated 18 Mar 2020
70
82nd
Featuring great performances by Ryder, Hawke, Garofalo, Zahn & Stiller, this realist romcom executes its premise extremely well, & also has a great script behind it. Clever & fun humor, a well-done love triangle subplot, well-developed characters, & a very enjoyable soundtrack are all things this movie has to offer. The plot does stumble in a couple of spots, but those are easily forgivable thanks to everything it does right. A funny, sadly overlooked 90's gem that's definitely worth seeing.
Rated 27 Dec 2020
63
39th
Everything about Reality Bites screams 90's, from the outfits to the outlook to the soundtrack. The film suffers from a few too many moping montages and characters that are defined by their gall, but the cast is enjoyable enough. Stiller's direction is uninspired but competent. The film is a rarity in that it's a RomCom where you don't want to root for the couple. The screenplay has a few acute observations, a few clever moments with a theme of irony, but equally as many indulgent ones. Decent.
Rated 03 Feb 2021
55
41st
This is the early 1990s captured on film. Most of the characters are annoying with few redeeming features (except for Steve Zahn as Sammy Gray, because he's Steve Zahn), but it has a certain charm. And, yes, the 'My Sharona' scene is the highlight.
Rated 18 Feb 2022
79
73rd
Greatfeel-soundtrack+seesthem-iamreallyinlovewithyou/dontflatteryourself+kiss-shestops+spadelol+Bbutcheredherdoc+finallybangE+hegetsweird+enduptogether
Rated 19 Mar 2022
74
49th
Market-Sharona part was the best :)
Rated 22 Sep 2022
26
2nd
Flagrantly of its time, and admittedly captures the look and feel of its milieu expertly, but Childress’ screenplay wallows in the vacuousness of its too-clever-by-half characters, accepting at face value the notion that anyone with drive and ambition must be naturally suspect, and leaving the game leading trio gasping for air; as a director, Stiller does a competent job, though I hope he wasn’t behind the lens for Ryder’s laughable attempt at documentary filming!
Rated 06 Aug 2023
3
13th
I am writing this review from in front of the house used in this movie, which is still here in Houston, and I must say: this movie sucks ass. It is a cruel satire of Generation X written by some effete moralistic embittered adjunct professor, and it entirely misses the point, which that Generation X grew up after the "System" set up by the Greatest/Boomers made life completely pointless and destroyed everything. Bad acting, dumb script, kneejerk characters... worse than a "Scooby Doo" episode.

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