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Reality Bites

Theatrical poster
Directed byBen Stiller
Produced byDanny DeVito
Michael Shamberg
Written byHelen Childress
StarringWinona Ryder
Ben Stiller
Ethan Hawke
Janeane Garofalo
Steve Zahn
Music byKarl Wallinger
CinematographyEmmanuel Lubezki
Editing byLisa Zeno Churgin
John Spence
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date(s)February 18, 1994
Running time99 minutes
Country United States
LanguageEnglish
Gross revenue$20,982,557 (USA)
Official website
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile
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 (where Childress' high school is located), and Houston, Texas.

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

Long-time friend, temporary roommate and angry starving artist Troy Dyer (Ethan Hawke and based on an actual schoolmate of screenwriter Helen Childress) and his love interest, Lelaina Pierce (Winona Ryder) are attracted to each other, though it's an attraction that neither of them has really acted upon as the film begins, 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. Troy's father, who is never seen on-screen, is dying of prostate cancer; this prompts Troy to remain close with his father when he can.

Lelaina meets Michael (Ben Stiller) in what filmmakers call a meet cute scene: in an act of derision, 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 her documentary, he wants to get it aired on his network. The film follows Lelaina as she struggles with her career and is forced to figure out whether it is Michael or Troy she wants.

Lelaina's roommate Vickie (Janeane Garofalo) has a series of one-night stands and short relationships with dozens of guys, 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. Vickie works as a sales associate for the The Gap, a job she was initially reluctant to take. She was promoted to assistant manager and found that she had a talent for management.

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 Republican parents.

Soundtrack

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" & "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

  1. "My Sharona" - The Knack
  2. "Spin The Bottle" - Juliana Hatfield Three
  3. "Bed Of Roses" - The Indians
  4. "When You Come Back To Me" - World Party
  5. "Going, Going, Gone" - The Posies
  6. "Stay" - Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories
  7. "All I Want Is You" - U2
  8. "Locked Out" - Crowded House
  9. "Spinning Around Over" - Lenny Kravitz
  10. "I'm Nuthin'" - Ethan Hawke
  11. "Turnip Farm" - Dinosaur Jr.
  12. "Revival" - Me Phi Me
  13. "Tempted" - Squeeze
  14. "Baby, I Love Your Way" - Big Mountain

In popular culture

The film's title was spoofed in The Simpsons episode, "Realty Bites" and Charmed episode "Morality Bites".

See also

External link

Ben Stiller

Birth name Benjamin Edward Stiller
Born November 30 1965 (1965--) (age 43)
New York City, New York, U.S.
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Danny DeVito

Birth name Daniel Michael DeVito Jr.
Born November 17 1944 (1944--) (age 64)
Neptune, New Jersey, U.S.
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Winona Ryder

Birth name Winona Laura Horowitz
Born September 29 1971 (1971--) (age 36)
Olmsted County, Minnesota, U.S.A.
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Ben Stiller

Birth name Benjamin Edward Stiller
Born November 30 1965 (1965--) (age 43)
New York City, New York, U.S.
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Ethan Hawke

Birth name Ethan Green Hawke
Born November 6 1970 (1970--) (age 37)
Austin, Texas, U.S.
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Janeane Garofalo

Garofalo at a Seattle Town Hall appearance, October 7, 2006.

Born September 28 1964 (1964--) (age 43)
Newton, New Jersey
Died
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Steve Zahn

Steve Zahn promoting Sahara
Birth name Steven James Zahn
Born November 13 1967 (1967--) (age 41)
Marshall, Minnesota, U.S.
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Emmanuel Lubezki (born Emmanuel Lubezki Morgenstern 1964, in Mexico City) is an award-winning Mexican cinematographer, known for his groundbreaking techniques and characteristic style. His nickname is "Chivo".
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Universal Studios

Subsidiary
Founded June 8, 1912
Headquarters Universal City, California, United States

Key people Carl Laemmle, Founder
Ron Meyer, President/COO
Industry Motion pictures
Parent NBC Universal
Owner General Electric
Vivendi
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February 18 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events


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In home video: 1991 1992 1993 -1994- 1995 1996 1997     
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Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
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English}}} 
Writing system: Latin (English variant) 
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Official language of: 53 countries
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Language codes
ISO 639-1: en
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ISO 639-3: eng  
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United States dollar
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-1994- 1995 1996 1997  1998 .  1999 .  2000 .  2001  . 2002  . 2003  . 2004 
In home video: 1991 1992 1993 -1994- 1995 1996 1997     
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Ben Stiller

Birth name Benjamin Edward Stiller
Born November 30 1965 (1965--) (age 43)
New York City, New York, U.S.
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Winona Ryder

Birth name Winona Laura Horowitz
Born September 29 1971 (1971--) (age 36)
Olmsted County, Minnesota, U.S.A.
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Ethan Hawke

Birth name Ethan Green Hawke
Born November 6 1970 (1970--) (age 37)
Austin, Texas, U.S.
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Janeane Garofalo

Garofalo at a Seattle Town Hall appearance, October 7, 2006.

Born September 28 1964 (1964--) (age 43)
Newton, New Jersey
Died
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Steve Zahn

Steve Zahn promoting Sahara
Birth name Steven James Zahn
Born November 13 1967 (1967--) (age 41)
Marshall, Minnesota, U.S.
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City of Austin

Nickname: Live Music Capital of the World[1]
Location in the state of Texas
Coordinates:
Country United States
State
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The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA for short) is a secondary school located at 4001 Stanford Street in the Montrose district of Houston, Texas. The school is a part of the Houston Independent School District.
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City of Houston

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Nickname: Space City
Location in the state of Texas
Coordinates:
Country United States of America
State
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State of Texas

Flag of Texas Seal
Nickname(s): Lone Star State
Motto(s): Friendship.
Before Statehood Known as
The Republic of Texas

Official language(s) No official language

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Videography refers to the process of capturing moving images on electronic media (e.g., videotape, hard disk, or solid state storage, streaming media). The term includes methods of electronic production and post production.
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Documentary film is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to "document" reality. Although "documentary film" originally referred to movies shot on film stock, it has subsequently expanded to include video and digital
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Generation X is a term used to describe generations in many countries around the world. The exact demographic boundaries of Generation X are not well defined, depending on who is using the term, where and when.
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Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle Sound) is a subgenre of alternative rock that was created in the mid-1980s by bands from the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area.
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A meet-cute is a convention of screwball comedies and their heirs, the romantic comedies, the contrived encounter of two potential romantic partners in unusual or comic circumstances, a comic situation contrived by the filmmakers entirely in order to bring them together.
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convertible (sometimes called cabriolet in British English) is a car body style with a folding or retracting roof (aka 'soft top' or 'top' in USA, 'hood' in UK).
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