I saw this movie when it first came out and I was in college. I was the target audience and I came away hoping that no one ever thought my life was anything like the idiots that were portrayed on screen.

Slightly cynical, but not overwhelmingly so. Good cast. Probably one of the better Winona Ryder films-- better than 'Heathers' I think. I like Ben Stiller, so I liked his character better than his rival's, but Ethan Hawke's guy was okay too I guess. There's also something to be said about having a clear resolution to a three-party triangle where one of the two rivals is clearly chosen, although in this case I think the choice was somewhat influenced by 90s anti-business cynicism. Although I'll admit that Hawke's character was sympathetic to some degree for me, despite being somewhat cynical about life. On the whole about as good as many movies of this kind, and better than some. And it's not bad, pretty nice, to see Winona Ryder get a good part in a film that, works for her, I guess, since a lot of them don't, I think. She always comes across to me as a nice girl with usually bad luck, so it's good to see her when she's at her luckiest. (8/10)

I love this film; Ethan Hawke is brilliant and really does sum up the 'searcher' generation, the new Beat. Grunge in this film is typified by over-intelligent, under-achieving, dope induced philosophical musings and desire to make a difference but not knowing how to go about it in world where young people feel anonymous and disenfranchised and dealing with modern day issues; coming out, HIV tests, unemployment, friendship, love and life aspirations.I think this is perfectly cast, loads of familiar faces, and I think this is my favourite role of Winona Ryder. Steve Zahn and Janeane Garofalo were great and the comedy, and Ben Stiller (who also directed) is good despite being an atypical role for him, and is one of his best roles. Ethan Hawke, however, is the deserved lead in this snapshot of reality, and a showcase of his band/singing. This is a well cast and performed ensemble cast production, and there are truisms left right and centre; it speaks to the heart & soul and is relevant to the 90s generation and I'm sure has relevance to later decades and has - IMHO - aged well. It is super-funny, touching and enlightening; something for everyone who's young enough and old enough. Even after 20 years it's one of my favourite films and watching it gives me such a warm feeling.

"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." - Goethe "Work Makes Freedom" - sign above Auschwitz entrance The directorial debut of Ben Stiller, "Reality Bites" is a well meaning but slight film which hopes to capture the tempo and anxieties of Generation X. The film revolves around a small cast of young adults (Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, Ben Stiller, Steve Zahn), all of whom are raging caricatures. There's the artist, the sex junkie, the drop out, the corporate sell out and of course the always-precious Winona Ryder, who serves as our window into their world. She faces well worn conflicts: does she pursue a career in the arts, or trade her dreams and aspirations for a "reliable" corporate job? Does she settle down with a "loser" musician, or a likable but stiff businessman in a suit? At the heart of the film is therefore a tug-of-war between the logic and rationales of techno capitalism and the sensitive soul's vague yearnings for something else.Whilst the film is absent of analysis or serious insight, it does capture a certain relevant vacuity. Stiller's whiny young adults hang in limbo, aimless, lethargic, high-strung and always placating themselves with material or biochemical pleasures. Deeming the adult world abhorrent, they flutter in the wind, unable to function in it, but unable to conceive of, latch onto or find something else.Other anxieties abound: fears of rejection, poverty, success and judgement turn all these characters into emotion wrecks. They're stuck in post graduate delirium and quarter life crises, some pushed into self promotion, solipsism and competition, others opting to instead drop out of the game altogether.Like all these films, "Reality Bites" turns its back on a deeper reality. It ignores the fact that its anxieties are essentially social symptoms spawned by social systems. Indeed, our very neurological structure is closely tied to, and is necessarily continuous with, environmental relations, which are themselves directly responsible for certain neurological or synaptic connections flourishing or atrophying and dying off. In a very real sense, you are continually being built by the "outside". By individualising what is systemic, these films thus override the possibility of their subjects becoming agents, rather than patients, of their symptoms.Whilst there are hundreds of films like "Reality Bites" about Generation's Xers, Generation Y's anxieties don't seem to make it to cinema screens. Maybe they've been completely inculcated, have self medicated themselves into zombiedom, or simply have no use for cinema, the stuffy medium of their forefathers. Perhaps with interactive media supplanting old media, the quaint idea of stories, and even the audience/object dichotomy itself, is displaced by a situation in which the anxiety tale is writ on the subject itself; their virtual and real bodies are the new anxiety performance.Cynicism and irony were a huge part of Generation X's identity. They saw the ideals, dreams and possibilities of the Baby Boomers get thoroughly squashed. The result was a generation which recognised the "reality" that rebellion and honest dissent would either fail or make one a laughing stock. Authentic emotional expression was to be buried or cocooned in irony/cynicism, lest one risk ridicule or hurt. But Generation X at least knew how to smell BS. Generation Y's thoroughly of the post-everything, multicultural, accept-everything entertainment world. They're both stronger and more fragile, supremely confident and well adjusted, but perhaps with a nihilism buried so deep they're not even aware of it, shuffling off to the abattoir with smiling faces, heads bobbing to personalised play-lists. No surprise that The Journal of Social Psychology reports that Millennials think about social problems less, have less interest in government, family and community, and have a very inflated sense of self which in turn leads to unrealistic expectations and chronic disappointment. They're also pushing back each of the five milestones of adulthood: completing school, leaving home, becoming financially independent, marrying and having kids. But maybe this is all overly pessimistic. Maybe it's stereotyping. Maybe every generation's a mass of differences, simultaneously ahead of its time, of its time, and of the past. Or maybe it's prophetic that our next generation will be dubbed Generation Z; a nation of snoozers.7.5/10 - Worth one viewing.