Reality Bites
Encyclopedia
Reality Bites is a 1994 American romantic
Romance film
Romance films are love stories that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films make the love story or the search for love the main plot focus...

 comedy-drama film
Comedy-drama
Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...

 written by Helen Childress and featuring the directorial debut of Ben Stiller
Ben Stiller
Benjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....

. It stars Winona Ryder
Winona Ryder
Winona Ryder is an American actress. She made her film debut in the 1986 film Lucas. Ryder's first significant role came in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice as a goth teenager, which won her critical and commercial recognition...

, Ethan Hawke
Ethan Hawke
Ethan Green Hawke is an American actor, writer and director. He made his feature film debut in 1985 with the science fiction movie Explorers, before making a supporting appearance in the 1989 drama Dead Poets Society which is considered his breakthrough role...

 and Stiller, with major supporting roles played by Janeane Garofalo
Janeane Garofalo
Janeane Garofalo is an American stand-up comedian, actress, political activist and writer. She is the former co-host on the now defunct Air America Radio's The Majority Report. Garofalo continues to circulate regularly within New York City's local comedy and performance art scene.-Early...

 and Steve Zahn
Steve Zahn
-Early life:Zahn was born in Marshall, Minnesota, the son of Zelda, who worked for the YMCA, and Carleton E. Zahn, a retired Missouri Synod Lutheran pastor. Zahn spent part of his childhood in Mankato, Minnesota, attending Kennedy Elementary School...

. The film was shot on location in Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

 and Houston, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 in 42 days. The plot is centered on Lelaina (Ryder), an aspiring videographer
Videography
Videography refers to the process of capturing moving images on electronic media even streaming media). The term includes methods of video production and post-production...

 working on a documentary called Reality Bites about the disenfranchised lives of her friends and roommates (Hawke, Garofalo, and Zahn), and to a certain degree, about Lelaina herself. Their challenges, both documented and not, exemplify some of the career and lifestyle choices faced by Generation X
Generation X
Generation X, commonly abbreviated to Gen X, is the generation born after the Western post–World War II baby boom ended. While there is no universally agreed upon time frame, the term generally includes people born from the early 1960's through the early 1980's, usually no later than 1981 or...

.

Plot

The film focuses on four friends living in Houston. Long-time friend, temporary roommate and coffee-house guitarist Troy (Ethan Hawke
Ethan Hawke
Ethan Green Hawke is an American actor, writer and director. He made his feature film debut in 1985 with the science fiction movie Explorers, before making a supporting appearance in the 1989 drama Dead Poets Society which is considered his breakthrough role...

) and budding filmmaker Lelaina (Winona Ryder
Winona Ryder
Winona Ryder is an American actress. She made her film debut in the 1986 film Lucas. Ryder's first significant role came in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice as a goth teenager, which won her critical and commercial recognition...

) are attracted to each other, though it's an attraction that neither of them has really acted upon, one alcohol-influenced event in the past notwithstanding. He's a slacker, nihilist and grunge rock musician by night, losing job after job in a series of minimum wage dead end endeavors during the day - the last of which he loses early in the film for stealing a candy bar from his employer. Lelaina on the other hand was valedictorian of her university, and has aspirations to become a documentarian, although initially having to settle for a position as production assistant to an obnoxious TV host.

Lelaina meets Michael (Ben Stiller
Ben Stiller
Benjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....

) when she throws a cigarette into his convertible
Convertible
A convertible is a type of automobile in which the roof can retract and fold away having windows which wind-down inside the doors, converting it from an enclosed to an open-air vehicle...

, causing him to crash into her car. The two soon begin to date. He works at an MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

-like cable channel called "In Your Face" as an executive, and after learning about a documentary she's been working on, wants to get it aired on his network.

Lelaina's roommate Vickie (Janeane Garofalo
Janeane Garofalo
Janeane Garofalo is an American stand-up comedian, actress, political activist and writer. She is the former co-host on the now defunct Air America Radio's The Majority Report. Garofalo continues to circulate regularly within New York City's local comedy and performance art scene.-Early...

) has a series of one-night stand
One-night stand
Originally, a one-night stand was a single theatre performance, usually by a guest performer on tour, as opposed to an ongoing engagement. Today, however, the term is more commonly defined as a single sexual encounter, in which neither participant has any intention or expectation of a relationship...

s and short relationships with dozens of guys (In some cases she does not even remember their name), motivated by a fear of being alone compounded by a fear of rejection; her promiscuity leads her to confront a very-real risk of contracting AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

 after a former fling tests positive for HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...

. Vickie works as a sales associate for The Gap. She is later promoted to manager (a position with which she appears to be content.)
Friend Sammy (Steve Zahn) is gay; he remains celibate, not because of a fear of AIDS, but because forming a relationship would force him to come out to his conservative parents. He later decides to come out to his mother.

After an impulsive act of retribution, Lelaina loses her job, which causes some tension with her roommates.
Eventually, Vickie's AIDS test comes back negative and Sammy comes out to his parents (and he even starts dating) and the two manage to resume their lives.

Meanwhile, Lelaina's relationship with Michael dissolves after he helps her sell the documentary to his network, only to let them edit it into a stylized montage that she feels compromises her artistic vision. Lelaina and Troy then sleep together and confess their love. The morning after, he avoids her and, after a messy confrontation, leaves town. After Troy's father dies, he forces himself to reevaluate his priorities, deciding to attempt a relationship with Lelaina.

Troy and Lelaina reunite and make amends after Troy returns from his father's funeral. While we do not see what happens to Michael, during the credits there is an abrupt break where two characters, "Laina" and "Roy," who are obvious parodies of Lelaina and Troy, have an argument about their relationship and as the "show's" credits roll, Michael's name is revealed as the producer, implying that he has turned the failed relationship into the subject of a new show on his network.

Cast

  • Winona Ryder
    Winona Ryder
    Winona Ryder is an American actress. She made her film debut in the 1986 film Lucas. Ryder's first significant role came in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice as a goth teenager, which won her critical and commercial recognition...

     as Lelaina Pierce
  • Ethan Hawke
    Ethan Hawke
    Ethan Green Hawke is an American actor, writer and director. He made his feature film debut in 1985 with the science fiction movie Explorers, before making a supporting appearance in the 1989 drama Dead Poets Society which is considered his breakthrough role...

     as Troy Dyer
  • Ben Stiller
    Ben Stiller
    Benjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....

     as Michael Grates
  • Janeane Garofalo
    Janeane Garofalo
    Janeane Garofalo is an American stand-up comedian, actress, political activist and writer. She is the former co-host on the now defunct Air America Radio's The Majority Report. Garofalo continues to circulate regularly within New York City's local comedy and performance art scene.-Early...

     as Vickie Miner
  • Steve Zahn
    Steve Zahn
    -Early life:Zahn was born in Marshall, Minnesota, the son of Zelda, who worked for the YMCA, and Carleton E. Zahn, a retired Missouri Synod Lutheran pastor. Zahn spent part of his childhood in Mankato, Minnesota, attending Kennedy Elementary School...

     as Sammy Gray
  • Swoosie Kurtz
    Swoosie Kurtz
    Swoosie Kurtz is an American actress. She began her career in theater during the 1970s and shortly thereafter began a career in television, garnering ten nominations and winning one Emmy Award. Her most famous television project was her role on the 1990s NBC drama Sisters...

     as Charlane McGregor
  • Joe Don Baker
    Joe Don Baker
    Joe Don Baker is an American film actor, perhaps best known for his roles as a Mafia hitman in Charley Varrick, deputy sheriff Thomas Jefferson Geronimo III in Final Justice, real-life Tennessee Sheriff Buford Pusser in Walking Tall, brute force with a badge detective Mitchell in Mitchell, James...

     as Tom Pierce
  • Renée Zellweger
    Renée Zellweger
    Renée Kathleen Zellweger is an American actress and producer. Zellweger first gained widespread attention for her role in the film Jerry Maguire , and subsequently received two nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her roles as Bridget Jones in the comedy Bridget Jones's Diary ...

     as Tami
  • John Mahoney
    John Mahoney
    John Mahoney is a British born American actor, known for playing Martin "Marty" Crane, the retired police officer, father of Kelsey Grammer's Dr...

     as Grant Gubler
  • Andy Dick
    Andy Dick
    Andrew R. "Andy" Dick is an American comedian, actor, musician and television/film producer. His first regular television role was on the short-lived but highly influential Ben Stiller Show. In the mid-1990s, he had a long-running stint on NBC's NewsRadio...

     as Rock
  • Keith David
    Keith David
    Keith David Williams , better known as Keith David, is an American film, television, voice actor, and singer. He is perhaps most known for his live-action roles in such films as Crash, There's Something About Mary, Barbershop and Men at Work...

     as Roger
  • David Spade
    David Spade
    David Wayne Spade is an American actor, comedian and television personality who first became famous in the 1990s as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, and from 1997 until 2003 when he starred as Dennis Finch on Just Shoot Me!. He also starred as C.J...

     as Hot Dog Manager (uncredited)
  • Glen Naessens as Himself (uncredited)
  • Anthony Robbins as Himself (uncredited)
  • Jeanne Tripplehorn
    Jeanne Tripplehorn
    Jeanne Marie Tripplehorn is an American film and television actress. She was brought to the public's attention through her supporting role in the 1992 film Basic Instinct, and since 2006 has starred opposite Bill Paxton in the HBO drama Big Love.-Early life:Tripplehorn was born in Tulsa,...

     as Cheryl Goode "In Your Face TV" correspondent (uncredited)

Production

In 1991, producer Michael Shamberg had an idea to make a film about people in their twenties. He read a screenplay entitled Blue Bayou written by Helen Childress on spec in 1990. He liked it and met with her where she proceeded to tell him about her life and friends and their struggle to find work during a recession in the United States at the time. For three years she wrote and rewrote Reality Bites, generating 70 different drafts. Childress decided to use her friends, their personalities and experiences as the basis for her film, even secretly tape-recording conversations.

The film's producers saw the pilot episode for The Ben Stiller Show
The Ben Stiller Show
The Ben Stiller Show was the name of two sketch comedy television shows that aired on MTV from 1990 to 1991, and then on Fox from September 1992 to January 1993. The Fox show starred Ben Stiller, Andy Dick, Janeane Garofalo and Bob Odenkirk. Character actor John F. O'Donohue also appeared in every...

and approached Stiller to direct, not act in it. he signed on to direct in 1992 and worked with Childress for nine to ten months developing the script. Initially, Childress, working with producer Stacy Sher, had figured out the characters of Lelaina and Troy but could not come up with a credible character to complete the love triangle. Stiller suggested that he could play that third person. As a result, the Michael Grates character changed from a 35-year-old advertising man trying to market Japanese candy bars in America to a slick television executive in his twenties. They also changed the structure of the film. Originally, Vickie, Sammy and Troy had more fleshed out stories but Stiller felt that he could not tell them fully and decided to focus on the relationship between Lelaina and Troy.

By December 1992, Childress and Stiller had a script that was ready to be filmed for Tri-Star Pictures, but the studio put it into turnaround. Sher, Stiller and Childress managed to convince the Film Commission of Texas to fund a location scouting trip to Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

 despite no studio backing, no budget and no cast. The film had been turned down by all the Hollywood studios because it tried to capture the Generation X market like Singles and that film was not a box office success. When Sher, Stiller and Childress arrived in Houston, they received a phone call informing them that Winona Ryder had read the script, wanted to do it and that Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...

 had agreed to finance the film.

After completing several period pieces, Winona Ryder was drawn to Reality Bites because she was looking "for something a little more contemporary because I really wanted to wear blue jeans for a change." She read the script in one sitting while making The House of the Spirits
The House of the Spirits (film)
The House of the Spirits is a 1993 German-Danish-Portuguese dramatic film starring Jeremy Irons, Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Winona Ryder and Antonio Banderas. The supporting cast includes Vanessa Redgrave, María Conchita Alonso, Armin Mueller-Stahl and Jan Niklas...

and "found it very true to life." She further speculated in an interview, "I think my character is very close to what I would probably have ended up as if I hadn't become an actress". At that point in his career, Ethan Hawke was known for playing clean-cut roles and the actor recalled that his career was in a lull after the buzz from Dead Poets Society
Dead Poets Society
Dead Poets Society is a 1989 American drama film directed by Peter Weir and starring Robin Williams. Set at the conservative and aristocratic Welton Academy in Vermont in 1959, it tells the story of an English teacher who inspires his students through his teaching of poetry.The script was written...

had gone away. Ryder was a fan of his work and stipulated in her contract that her involvement in the film was dependent on Hawke starring opposite her.

Janeane Garofalo knew Stiller from working together on The Ben Stiller Show and the film's producers felt that her style of comedy was perfect for the character of Vickie. She said that Parker Posey
Parker Posey
Parker Christian Posey is an American actress. She became known during the 1990s after a series of roles in several well-received independent films. As a result, she has often been referred to as the "Queen of the Indies"....

, Anne Heche
Anne Heche
Anne Celeste Heche is an American actress, director, and screenwriter. She started her career on the daytime soap opera Another World, for which she won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1991. Heche gradually landed supporting roles in feature films, and in 1997 appeared in I Know What You Did Last Summer,...

 and Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Kate Paltrow is an American actress and singer. She made her acting debut on stage in 1990 and started appearing in films in 1991. After appearing in several films throughout the decade, Paltrow gained early notice for her work in films such as Se7en and Emma...

 were all up for the role. The studio loved and wanted Paltrow but Ryder liked Garofalo after making a connection with her. Before filming began Janeane Garofalo was fired from the role of Vickie because Ben Stiller did not like her attitude during rehearsal. Garofalo was rehired because Winona Ryder stepped in on her behalf. Garofalo stated later that she has a really poor work ethic and hated to rehearse. Stiller met Steve Zahn through Hawke as they were doing a play together and he was impressed by how funny Zahn was. The actor went to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 and tested for the film. He felt strongly about playing a gay character coming out of the closet.

Principal photography lasted 42-days on a budget of $11.5 million. The filmmakers shot the exteriors in Houston (including a scene on top of the Two Shell Plaza building) where the film is set but most of the interiors were shot in L.A. because it was cheaper. During filming, Stiller encouraged Childress to be on location and talk with the actors about their characters.

Reality Bites went through four test screenings with a fairly decent reaction.

Soundtrack

RCA
RCA
RCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...

 met with the film's music supervisor Karyn Rachtman and Stiller three weeks into filming to discuss the soundtrack album. They finalized a deal and the label opened its roster to the director who picked only one band: Me Phi Me
Me Phi Me
Me Phi Me is a multiplatinum selling American rapper from Flint, Michigan. Me Phi Me is both the name of the musical group and the name of its lead performer....

. RCA aggressively marketed the album and had five tracks on rotation on radio and MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

. The video for Crowded House
Crowded House
Crowded House are a rock band, formed in Melbourne, Australia and led by New Zealand singer-songwriter Neil Finn. Finn is the primary songwriter and creative director of the band, having led it through several incarnations, drawing members from New Zealand , Australia and the United States...

's "Locked Out" was updated to include footage from the film. In addition, the video for "Spin the Bottle" by the Juliana Hatfield Three was directed by Stiller and featured clips from the film as well. The soundtrack sold 1.2 million units and reached #13 on the Billboard 200. The album also earned a no. 1 single with Lisa Loeb
Lisa Loeb
Lisa Anne Loeb is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She launched her career in 1994 with the song, "Stay ". She was the first artist to have a number one single in the United States while not signed to a recording contract.Loeb's efforts now include music, film, television, voice-over...

's "Stay (I Missed You)
Stay (I Missed You)
"Stay " is a song and debut single by American singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb, which became her breakthrough song in 1994. It was included on the Reality Bites soundtrack, as well as her debut album, Tails....

".

The film's soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...

 includes songs by World Party
World Party
World Party is a British pop/alternative rock band, which is essentially the solo project of its sole member, Karl Wallinger. He started the band in 1986 in London after leaving The Waterboys.-Career:...

, Squeeze, The Knack
The Knack
The Knack was an American New Wave rock quartet based in Los Angeles that rose to fame with their first single, "My Sharona", an international number one hit in 1979.-Founding :...

 ("My Sharona
My Sharona
"My Sharona" is the debut single by The Knack, released in 1979 from their album Get the Knack. It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart where it remained for six weeks and was #1 on Billboards Top Pop Singles of 1979 year-end chart. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry...

" featured prominently in one scene from the film), Juliana Hatfield, Social Distortion
Social Distortion
Social Distortion is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. The band currently consists of Mike Ness , Jonny Wickersham , Brent Harding and David Hidalgo, Jr...

, and two contributions from Crowded House ("Locked Out" and "Something So Strong") in addition to the runaway hit "Stay (I Missed You)" by Lisa Loeb, which earned Loeb the distinction of being the only artist to top the Hot 100 before being signed to any record label. It also includes "Conjunction Junction" from Schoolhouse Rock!
Schoolhouse Rock!
Schoolhouse Rock! is an American interstitial programming series of animated musical educational short films that aired during the Saturday morning children's programming on the U.S. television network ABC. The topics covered included grammar, science, economics, history, mathematics, and civics...

, another song brought into the foreground of a film full of pop culture references.

Track listing

  1. "My Sharona
    My Sharona
    "My Sharona" is the debut single by The Knack, released in 1979 from their album Get the Knack. It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart where it remained for six weeks and was #1 on Billboards Top Pop Singles of 1979 year-end chart. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry...

    " - The Knack
    The Knack
    The Knack was an American New Wave rock quartet based in Los Angeles that rose to fame with their first single, "My Sharona", an international number one hit in 1979.-Founding :...

  2. "Spin The Bottle" - Juliana Hatfield Three
  3. "Bed Of Roses" - The Indians
  4. "When You Come Back To Me" - World Party
    World Party
    World Party is a British pop/alternative rock band, which is essentially the solo project of its sole member, Karl Wallinger. He started the band in 1986 in London after leaving The Waterboys.-Career:...

  5. "Going, Going, Gone" - The Posies
    The Posies
    The Posies are an alternative rock/power pop group. The band was formed in 1987 in Bellingham, Washington by primary songwriters Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow. They are best known for their radio hits "Golden Blunders" , as well as "Dream All Day", "Solar Sister" and "Flavor of the Month"...

  6. "Stay (I Missed You)
    Stay (I Missed You)
    "Stay " is a song and debut single by American singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb, which became her breakthrough song in 1994. It was included on the Reality Bites soundtrack, as well as her debut album, Tails....

    " - Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories
    Lisa Loeb
    Lisa Anne Loeb is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She launched her career in 1994 with the song, "Stay ". She was the first artist to have a number one single in the United States while not signed to a recording contract.Loeb's efforts now include music, film, television, voice-over...

  7. "All I Want Is You" - U2
    U2
    U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...

  8. "Locked Out
    Locked Out
    "Locked Out" is a 1993 song by rock group Crowded House, from the group's fourth studio album Together Alone. It was released as a single in December 1993 and was part of the soundtrack to the American film Reality Bites. It was the most successful single from Together Alone, reaching #12 in the UK...

    " - Crowded House
    Crowded House
    Crowded House are a rock band, formed in Melbourne, Australia and led by New Zealand singer-songwriter Neil Finn. Finn is the primary songwriter and creative director of the band, having led it through several incarnations, drawing members from New Zealand , Australia and the United States...

  9. "Spinning Around Over You" - Lenny Kravitz
    Lenny Kravitz
    Leonard Albert "Lenny" Kravitz is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and arranger, whose "retro" style incorporates elements of rock, soul, R&B, funk, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, folk and ballads...

  10. "I'm Nuthin'" - Ethan Hawke
    Ethan Hawke
    Ethan Green Hawke is an American actor, writer and director. He made his feature film debut in 1985 with the science fiction movie Explorers, before making a supporting appearance in the 1989 drama Dead Poets Society which is considered his breakthrough role...

  11. "Turnip Farm" - Dinosaur Jr.
  12. "Revival!" - Me Phi Me
    Me Phi Me
    Me Phi Me is a multiplatinum selling American rapper from Flint, Michigan. Me Phi Me is both the name of the musical group and the name of its lead performer....

  13. "Tempted" - Squeeze
  14. "Baby, I Love Your Way
    Baby, I Love Your Way
    "Baby, I Love Your Way" is a song written and performed by singer Peter Frampton that was first featured on Frampton's 1975 album, Frampton...

    " - Big Mountain
    Big Mountain (Band)
    Big Mountain is an American reggae/pop band, most famous for their cover version of Peter Frampton's "Baby, I Love Your Way," which became a Top 10 hit single in the U.S...

  15. "Stay (I Missed You)
    Stay (I Missed You)
    "Stay " is a song and debut single by American singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb, which became her breakthrough song in 1994. It was included on the Reality Bites soundtrack, as well as her debut album, Tails....

     (Living Room mix)" - Lisa Loeb
    Lisa Loeb
    Lisa Anne Loeb is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She launched her career in 1994 with the song, "Stay ". She was the first artist to have a number one single in the United States while not signed to a recording contract.Loeb's efforts now include music, film, television, voice-over...

  16. "Add It Up
    Add It Up
    "Add It Up" is a song by American rock band Violent Femmes, released on their 1983 debut album Violent Femmes.It contains the lyrics:Some radio stations substitute a guitar note for the swear word for airplay.-Use in film:...

    " - Ethan Hawke (Violent Femmes
    Violent Femmes
    Violent Femmes were an American alternative rock band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, initially active between 1980 and 1987 and again from 1988 to 2009...

     cover)
  17. "Confusion" - New Order
    New Order
    New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...

  18. "Disco Inferno - The Trammps
  19. "Give a Man a Fish" - Arrested Development
  20. "Fools Like Me" - Lisa Loeb


Tracks 1-14 appear on the original soundtrack.
Tracks 15-20 appear on the 10th Anniversary Edition of the soundtrack.

Release

Reality Bites premiered at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...

 in January 1994, and was released in the United States on February 18, 1994.

Box office

The film grossed $5.1 million in 1,149 theaters on its opening weekend. Initially, Reality Bites did not perform as well at the box office as the studio had hoped. In six weeks it grossed $18.3 million which was more than the film's $11 million budget. Bruce Feldman, Universal Pictures' Vice-President of Marketing said, "The media labeled it as a Generation X picture, while we thought it was a comedy with broad appeal". The studio placed TV ads during programs chosen for their appeal to 12-34-year-olds and in interviews Stiller was careful not to mention the phrase, "Generation X". However, the film went on to make $20.9 million in North America and $12.3 million in the rest of the world for a worldwide total of $33.3 million, well above its budget.

Critical reception

The film received mixed to generally positive reviews, currently holding a rating of 66% "fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...

. Caryn James in her review for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

wrote, "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". In his review for the Washington Post, Desson Howe wrote, "By aiming specifically - and accurately - at characters in their twenties, debuting screenwriter Helen Childress and first-time director Stiller achieve something even greater: they encapsulate an era". Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...

magazine's Richard Schickel
Richard Schickel
Richard Warren Schickel is an American author, journalist, and documentary filmmaker. He is a film critic for Time magazine, having also written for Life magazine and the Los Angeles Times Book Review....

 wrote, "The movie bobs along on this stream of funny offhandedness, never losing its balance. If it's 10 o'clock, and you want to know where your supposedly grownup children are, this is a good place to look for them".

When asked in 2007 how well Reality Bites has aged, Janeane Garofalo replied; ‘I think it means a lot more to people younger than me. I was not the target audience. I was 29 playing a 21-year-old, so I don't think I understand why younger people like it.’

Lawsuit

In 2005, the real Dyer (a film financier), sued writer Helen Childress, producer Danny DeVito and director Ben Stiller. Dyer claimed that after the 2004 release of the tenth anniversary DVD of the film he was "besieged by inquiries from potential clients as to whether he was the fictional Troy Dyer". The defendants attempted to seek shelter under California's anti-SLAPP
Strategic lawsuit against public participation
A strategic lawsuit against public participation is a lawsuit that is intended to censor, intimidate, and silence critics by burdening them with the cost of a legal defense until they abandon their criticism or opposition....

statutes but in early 2007 the appeals court denied them SLAPP protection. The suit was quickly settled to everyone's mutual satisfaction after Dyer received a written document from Childress stating he was not the person portrayed in the film.
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