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WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT?
Where were you in 1994? That was the year of Pulp Fiction, The Shawshank Redemption, and Forrest Gump. It was the year Tonya Harding crippled Nancy Kerrigan, Kurt Cobain put a gun to his head, and OJ Simpson put in motion events that would lead to a legendary judicial embarrassment. It was the time of MTV, crass retail advertising, and cheesy prime-time dramas. It was the era of yuppies. Perhaps it was also the final year of your college experience. If that’s the case, Reality Bites probably speaks particularly eloquently to you.
A fun, jaunty, in-jokey film that’s very much of its specific generation, Reality Bites could be called a post-baby boomer (or “baby buster̶ 
comedy, a quip-choked ode to the slacker. You might call it a mid-90s The Graduate, but you’d be being a bit generous. This is a comedy that feels pulled along by its attitude—and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, except that sometimes Reality Bites tries too hard to exude that attitude. Rocking away with its nearly three dozen hip songs, kicking back under the sway of its anti-yuppy, anti-establishment, collegiate-liberal sensibilities, the film gives us its somewhat formulaic story of a romantic triangle, and it does so almost with a sense of reluctance. You get the feeling Reality Bites would be perfectly happy just meandering among its characters, listening to them expound pretentiously about life from the perspective of a burned-out grad—much as its lead character’s self-shot videotapes do.
That lead character is Lelaina (Winona Ryder). She’s an intern for the insufferable Donahue-like host (John Mahoney) of a Houston talk show called Good Morning, Grant!, but her aspirations are a great deal higher: She’s in the process of filming a documentary about her slacker friends in the hopes of encapsulating her generation’s angst on video. While struggling with her ambitions and her position in life, along comes a romantic triad to further complicate her personal life. Following a too-convenient road mishap, Michael (Ben Stiller, who also directed the film)—a yuppie exec for an MTV-like network—enters her post-grad life and stirs up all kinds of trouble with Lelaina’s “best friend” Troy (a grunged-down Ethan Hawke). Troy is a cynical, smart-ass bad boy, and he hides his love for Lelaina behind his slacker veneer. And, of course, even though Lelaina yearns for a career and a larger life, she can’t help but hold onto an equally unspoken love for this rebel type.
It’s an age-old story, ripe for dramedy, but the film often mirrors Troy’s smirking attitude by hiding its emotion and truth behind a parade of sly references and 90s cultural riffs. Stiller, in his debut as a film director, goes to great lengths to parody MTV programming (In Your Face TV!) and other 90s culture points, slyly nodding at everything from Big Gulps to the Gap to 70s and 80s TV nostalgia. The film’s characters often talk in knowing, generational screenwriter-speak. There are also the specters of AIDS and homosexuality and parental divorce, as well as the most onscreen smoking I’ve ever seen in a film. Reality Bites is positively infused with attitude. The good news is that, for a film that wears its attitude on its sleeve, Reality Bites offers many quirky pleasures.
The standout of the cast is most certainly Ethan Hawke, who inhabits his character with an eye-opening realism. Considering Troy’s stinging aloofness, you wonder how much of himself Hawke is throwing into the role—and Stiller has a few fascinating comments in the supplements about how his onscreen antagonism with Hawke mirrored his offscreen relationship with the actor. Winona Ryder turns in one of her very best performances as Lelaina. She’s cute and funny and exasperated and tortured in all the right ways. Actor/director Stiller gives a surprisingly heartfelt performance as the corporate man, and one of the film’s more interesting questions is whether yuppie Michael is actually the better choice for Lelaina. I think it depends on your age and perspective. Janeane Garofalo, a Stiller regular from his TV show, is terrific as the AIDS-obsessed Gap girl. And it’s cool to remember that Steve Zahn had an early role here.
Whether you get a kick out of Reality Bites probably depends on your age and, again, where you were in your life in 1994. You need to be able to understand its offbeat personality. Some of its humor, as with any comedy, has lost its effectiveness, but many moments still retain their edge. I wouldn’t say the film defines a generation. It does, however, speak some of a generation’s language. You might have grown up since the days when you might have enjoyed and even identified with a film like this, but if nothing else, Reality Bites offers a good dose of wily, rousing nostalgia.
HOW’S IT LOOK?
Universal presents Reality Bites in an absolutely striking anamorphic-widescreen transfer of the film’s original 1.85:1 theatrical presentation. Frankly, I was stunned by the quality of this newly remastered transfer, which boasts superfine detail, gorgeous colors, and deep, inky blacks. For a 10-year-old film, this is quite an achievement and should be applauded. This is one of those transfers that really makes you proud of your home-theater setup. It exudes a warm depth and color saturation that take it beyond what you might remember in theaters. And I noticed no evidence of digital artifacting—save for the inevitable halos in Lelaina’s handheld video segments.
The original DVD transfer of Reality Bites offered strong detail and generous color palette, but this effort easily bests that earlier stab with added degrees of crispness and depth.
HOW’S IT SOUND?
The audio presentation isn’t quite as marvelous as the video presentation, but it’s no slouch. This Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation is a center-focused affair, with very little separation across the front except for the film’s excellent score. Dialog comes straight out of the front channel, sounding quite mono. And the bad news is that some of the dialog—particularly the screamed or shouted kind—comes across as tinny and brittle at the high end. The good news is that the music, which you no doubt fell in love with the first time you saw Reality Bites, is reproduced with gusto. Whenever one of the film’s tunes begins, the soundtrack explodes to life, taking hold of all channels. Surround speakers are used primarily for ambience. But for the most part, this isn’t a terribly dynamic mix.
WHAT ELSE IS THERE?
This 10th Anniversary Edition of Reality Bites contains a generous array of supplements and is a clear step up from the barebones DVD edition released three years ago. Entering the Bonus Features section of the disc reveals some well-produced and thoughtfully crafted special features.
Foremost is a Feature Commentary with Actor/Director Ben Stiller and Writer Helen Childress, and it’s a fun free-for-all. We’re all familiar with Stiller’s deadpan humor, but what I didn’t expect is that Childress would be such a fun personality for Stiller to interact with. They laugh frequently as they reminisce about the shoot and ancillary memories. You can really tell that these two are old friends—you can visualize them being all heartily nostalgic, as if over dinner and wine. You sit there and laugh along with them, and you’ll get a real feel for the mood of the set. Stiller and Childress also act as moderators for each other, encouraging a fast flow of remembrances from both directions. They joke about Stiller’s big hair, origins of pop-culture references, and about the weird senses of humor of some of the actors. There are a few gaps, but this is a great, fun, laidback listen.
You also get an 18-minute selection of Deleted Scenes, which you can watch individually or all at once. You can choose to watch them with or without a Video Introduction by Actor/Director Ben Stiller & Writer Helen Childress. They provide short, interesting comments before most of the scenes:
Chinese Fire Drill—A very funny, relationship-setting scene with Lelaina and Troy.
Waterfall Scene—A wrapup scene for the Michael character.
Talent Show—The first of two scenes involving Lelaina’s sister.
Group Therapy—A funny and angry scene featuring Lelaina’s family in therapy.
Hot Dog on a Stick—The first of three tiny exchanges between Lelaina and Vickie.
The Only Thing I Learned in College—Tiny exchange.
It’s Hard to Find Good Help—Very funny Gap scene.
Next is a terrific 30-minute documentary entitled Reality Bites: Retrospective, a fullframe effort that features new interviews with producer Stacey Sher, producer Michael Shamburg, writer Helen Childress, Ben Stiller, Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, Steve Zahn, and Janeane Garofalo. The piece traces the origin and development of the film, from Childress’s out-of-UCI script to the Ben Stiller Show. It also goes from actor to actor to speak of character motivation and the mood of a Stiller shoot. I particularly enjoyed hearing about how Hawke totally took over his character, and I liked Garofalo’s comments about how fans of the movie love the “idea” of Reality Bites: that notion of late-night partying and drinking continuing after graduation. One flaw: some annoying and repetitive background music.
The 6-minute Lisa Loeb: Stay featurette is an interview piece with Loeb about the song (featured over the film’s end credits) and music video that made her a star. We get recollections from both Loeb and Hawke, who directed the video. This piece is followed by the video itself, Music Video “Stay (I Missed You)” by Lisa Loeb.
Rounding off this fine selection of extras is a full-frame version of the film’s Theatrical Trailer, and a suitably cheesy 2-minute collection of DVD trailers for Cool 80’s Shows.
WHAT’S LEFT TO SAY?
I’m pleasantly surprised by the quality of this special edition. It’s a rare case in which the supplements truly enrich the experience of the film. Reality Bites has its flaws, but it’s been treated with utmost respect by Universal. Image quality is especially fine. This DVD is well worth your time.
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