Reality Bites
Director: Ben Stiller
Year Released: 1994
Rating: 1.0
Gen-X fable that foolishly attempts to speak for its generation ... but is outshined by 1988's indie sensation Slacker, directed by Richard Linklater. Pandering as all hell - protagonists Winona Ryder and cronies represent "truth" whereas "phonies" take the form of upper management types, Ben Stiller (whose corporate crony figure allows the "depressing" documentary Ryder made with a home camcorder to turn into flashy MTV "Real World" junk) and John Mahoney's Regis Philbin-type talk show host (Ryder's revenge tactics on him, in "reality," wouldn't get her simply fired - she'd be sued). Ethan Hawke's smug intellectual is supposed to be the embodiment of over-educated philosophical types, but his performance doesn't ring true (I'd recommend reading Coupland's famous novel for his take). A disaster, to be quite honest - and what's with the ending? Perhaps that's the only 'real' thing about this: girls the world over always end up loving the wrong guys.
