Reality Bites is a 1994 film written by Helen Childress and featuring the directorial debut of Ben Stiller. It stars Stiller, Winona Ryder, and Ethan Hawke, with major supporting roles played by Janeane Garofalo and Steve Zahn. The film was shot on location in Austin and Houston, Texas in 42 days. The plot is centered on Lelaina (Ryder), an aspiring videographer 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.
Plot
The film focuses on four friends living in Houston, Texas. Long-time friend, temporary roommate and coffee-house guitarist Troy (Hawke) and budding filmaker Lelaina (Ryder) 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 and nihilist grunge rock musician by night, while 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 because of 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) when she throws a cigarette into his convertible, causing him to crash into her car. The two soon begin to date. He works at an MTV-like cable channel as an executive, and after learning about a documentary she's been working on, he wants to get it aired on his network.
Lelaina's roommate Vickie (Janeane Garofalo) has a series of one-night stands and short relationships with dozens of guys (In some cases she doesn't 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 after a former fling tests positive for HIV. Vickie works as a sales associate for The Gap. She is later promoted to manager. (A position that she appears to be content with.)
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.
When Troy's father dies, he forces himself to reevaluate his priorities, deciding to attempt a relationship with Lelaina. Meanwhile, Lelaina's relationship with Michael dissolves after he helps her sell the documentary to his network, only to let them edit it in a way that compromises her artistic vision.
Eventually, Vickie's AIDS test comes back negative and Sammy comes out to his parents (And he even starts dating other guys.) and the two manage to resume their lives amicably. Troy and Lelaina reunite after Troy returns from his father's funeral and make amends. 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
Production
In 1991, producer Michael Shamberg had an idea to make a film about people in their twenties.[1] He read a screenplay entitled Blue Bayou written by Helen Childress on spec in 1990.[1] He liked it and met with her. 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.[2]
Ben Stiller signed on to direct in 1992 and worked with Childress for nine to ten months developing the script.[3] 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.[3] 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.[1]
By December 1992, Childress and Stiller had a script that could be filmed,[1] but it was initially 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.[3]
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."[4] She read the script in one sitting and "found it very true to life."[4] 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".[4]
The filmmakers shot the exteriors in Houston where the film is set but most of the interiors were shot in Los Angeles because it was cheaper.[1]
Reality Bites went through four test screenings with a fairly decent reaction.[3]
Lawsuit
In 2005, the real Troy Dyer[5] sued NBC Universal. After the 2004 release of the tenth anniversary DVD of the film. Dyer himself had "inquiries from potential clients as to whether he was the fictional Troy Dyer". Universal attempted to seek shelter under California's anti-SLAPP statutes but in early 2007 the appeals court denied Universal. Dyer, a financial consultant who happened to have gone to school with the writer, Helen Childress, was not connected to the character portrayed in the film, the young slackers or any such "social issues" of the 1990s. Thus, Universal failed to meet the initial burden of their "constitutional right of free speech in connection with a public issue or an issue of public interest". The lawsuit has since been settled to mutual satisfaction.[citation needed]
Soundtrack
RCA met with the film's music supervisor Karyn Rachtman and Stiller three weeks into filming to discuss the soundtrack album.[6] They finalized a deal and the label opened its roster to the director who picked only one band: Me Phi Me. RCA aggressively marketed the album and had five tracks on rotation on radio and MTV.[6] The video for Crowded House'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.[6] The soundtrack sold 1.2 million units and reached #13 on the Billboard 200.[7] The album also earned a no. 1 single with Lisa Loeb's "Stay (I Missed You)".
The film's soundtrack includes songs by World Party, Squeeze, The Knack ("My Sharona" featured prominently in one scene from the film), Juliana Hatfield, Social Distortion, 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!, another song brought into the foreground of a film full of pop culture references.
Track listing
- "My Sharona" - The Knack
- "Spin The Bottle" - Juliana Hatfield Three
- "Bed Of Roses" - The Indians
- "When You Come Back To Me" - World Party
- "Going, Going, Gone" - The Posies
- "Stay (I Missed You)" - Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories
- "All I Want Is You" - U2
- "Locked Out" - Crowded House
- "Spinning Around Over You" - Lenny Kravitz
- "I'm Nuthin'" - Ethan Hawke
- "Turnip Farm" - Dinosaur Jr.
- "Revival" - Me Phi Me
- "Tempted" - Squeeze
- "Baby, I Love Your Way" - Big Mountain
- "Stay (I Missed You) (Living Room mix)" - Lisa Loeb
- "Add It Up" - Ethan Hawke (Violent Femmes cover)
- "Confusion" - New Order
- "Disco Inferno - The Trammps
- "Give a Man a Fish" - Arrested Development
- "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.
Reaction
Reality Bites premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 1994.[8] The film was given a wide release on February 18, 1994 in 1,149 theaters, grossing $5.1 million on its opening weekend.[9] 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.[10] 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".[10] 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".[10] 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.[9]
Critical reception
The film received largely mixed reviews and currently has a rating of 63% on Rotten Tomatoes (50% for their "Cream of the Crop" designation). Caryn James in her review for the New York Times 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".[11] 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".[12]
References
- ^ a b c d e McInnis, Kathleen (March 1, 1994). "Ben Stiller Bytes". MovieMaker. http://www.moviemaker.com_directing/article/ben_stiller_reality_bites_interview_20080807/. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
- ^ Paatsch, Leigh (June 24, 1994). "Reality Takes a Bite Out of Writer's Life". The Age.
- ^ a b c d Kolson, Ann (February 20, 1994). "In the Family Tradition". Philadelphia Inquirer.
- ^ a b c Portman, Jamie (February 18, 1994). "The Age of Cynicism". Ottawa Citizen.
- ^ http://www.ffradvisor.com/overview.html
- ^ a b c Boehlert, Eric (February 5, 1994). "RCA Faces Reality as it Re-Enters Soundtrack Fray". Billboard.
- ^ Miller, Trudi (September 3, 1994). "Reality Bites Fuels Spate of Soundtracks for RCA". Billboard.
- ^ Byrge, Duane (January 31, 1994). "Reality Bites". Hollywood Reporter. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film/reviews/article_display.jsp?rid=573. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
- ^ a b "Reality Bites". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=realitybites.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
- ^ a b c Rickey, Carrie (April 3, 1994). "Generation X Turns Its Back". Philadelphia Inquirer.
- ^ James, Caryn (February 18, 1994). "Coming of Age in Snippets". New York Times.
- ^ Howe, Desson (February 18, 1994). "Reality Bites: Age of Innocents". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/realitybitespg13howe_a0b035.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-22.
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