Special Coverage Pop Culture Classics (The EW 1000)Sound BitesSummer TVBox Office Game
  • --

Credits

Rateds: PG-13, R; Genres: Comedy, Drama; With: Ethan Hawke, Winona Ryder, Ben Stiller and Steve Zahn
--
By Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Ty Burr is a writer at large for EW and is no relation to Raymond or Aaron

Despite the hype, the Generation X crowd (or twentysomethings or whatever label they're objecting to this week) avoided Ben Stiller's romantic comedy Reality Bites at the box office, proving that audiences don't always bite even if reality does. It's worth a look on video, but only if you keep your expectations low. Biggest problem? Mod, independent Lelaina (Winona Ryder) basically defines her life in guy terms: There's Cute Rich Empty Guy (Ben Stiller as a vacuous TV exec) and Cute Hostile Deep Guy (Ethan Hawke as Ryder's rebel roommate). They're both almost literally cartoons — Veronica and Betty with a sex change. Ryder and costar Janeane Garofalo (in the Jughead role), though, give Bites a reality it needs. B-


Sign up for EW.com's The 25 newsletter!

Stay in the know and get EW.com's top 5 stories, 5 days a week (sent weekday afternoons).
Posted Jul 08, 1994
 

Add Your Comments

The rules: Keep it clean, and stay on the subject or we might delete your comment. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us. You must have javascript enabled to submit a comment.
--
Change/Edit your grade
characters remaining