Movie: Reality Bites

Release Date: February 18, 1994

Director: Ben Stiller

Starring: Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, Ben Stiller, Janeane Garofalo, Swoosie Kurtz, Joe Don Baker, John Mahoney.

Tag Lines: “A comedy about love in the ’90s.”

Relevance: After graduating college in 1993 at the age of 22, instead of jumping right into the job market I went to graduate school. So from 1993-1995, I spent most of my time immersed in classes, theaters, bars, music and coffee. When ‘Reality Bites’ was released in 1994, I did not see it in theaters, not because I didn’t want to, I just never got around to it. I finally did watch it (sometime in 1994) when it was released for rental.

The movie was simple in its premise and was basically a story about me and my friends. It struck many chords, holding up a mirror saying, “This is you,” a group of young twenty-something Gen-X’ers starting to make their way in the world. It was eerie how relatable the film actually was to my real life at the time. A big chunk of the movie is shot “home movie” style helping with that illusion. It easily became one of my favorite movies that year.

‘Reality Bites’ was not well received by critics and was only a modest box office hit. This is a project whose soundtrack seemed to outshine the success of the film. It catapulted the career of Lisa Loeb with her number one song “Stay (I Missed You)” as well as reinvigorating songs like “My Sharona” “Baby, I Love Your Way” and “Tempted.” It was hugely popular and was something I owned way before I saw the film.

Today’s Thoughts: I am not exactly sure when I last saw ‘Reality Bites’ in its entirety, but I am guessing since I own the 2004 “10th Anniversary” DVD, it was somewhere around that time. I was curious to see how I would react to a movie I hadn’t seen in over sixteen years that was basically a time capsule of my early twenties. The result was complete nostalgia.

The movie was like watching a “home movie” of me in my twenties, and it was a most enjoyable jog down memory lane. While I watched it, I reminisced of old friends, silly things I used to do and how life was so simple back then. If I were watching this film at 48 for the first time, I probably wouldn’t “get it,” but living it as I did, it made me smile.

The performances of the main cast are great and fun to watch especially knowing where all of their careers are at now. It was also fun to see some random faces that I probably didn’t know when I first watched it like Andy Dick, David Spade and future two-time Academy Award winning actress Renee Zellweger.

And then there is the music. It’s almost like it is its own character in the film. The scenes of singing “Tempted” in the car and dancing in the convenient store to “My Sharona” are pure joy. So much in fact, the remainder of today I will be listening to my early 1990’s playlist.

Ways to Watch: YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, Amazon Prime, Hulu, DVD Availability.