The defining moment of Reality Bites is when a newspaper editor asks Winona Rider to define "irony". Well Ethan Hawke's character is right, it is indeed when the actual meaning is the complete opposite of the literal meaning.
In the colloquial sense of the word however, a good example of irony would be having characters bemoaning the ham-fisted attempts by the baby boomers to define and package generation X, in a movie that ham-fistedly attempts to define and package Gen-X.
The makers of Reality Bites however are apparently immune to irony, even when it is attached to its own backside: We are supposed to be (humourously) appalled right along with Rider's character when the documentary she has been constantly working on gets commercialised and dumbed down. Her documentary, you see, gets distilled into a series of catch-phrases and disconnected, clichéd scenes set to a soundtrack of pop music, and abounding with product placements. Sadly, the butchered documentary is indistinguishable from the rest of the movie in this sense.
Reality Bites attempts to be Diner, or The Big Chill for Gen X, but instead ends up being more of a St Elmo's Fire for the 90s. It rings false almost continuously. There is never an interaction between characters that doesn't seem contrived and forced. From moment to moment they move from one artificial scenario to another; dancing in the gas station, the episode of "Good Times" game, everything the characters do feels fake.
This movie feels like it was written by someone who conducted interviews with gen Xers, watched how they live, and then wrote a story, based on the romantic comedy formula, that included all the touchstones and references they felt would appeal to Gen Xers.
In short, Reality Bites was written and directed by people who just didn't get Gen X. Worse though, they also didn't get how to make a good movie.
On the plus side, you can watch for appearances by Andy Dick, David Spade, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Renee Zellweger in tiny roles, and this may have been the career-defining moment for Janeane Garofolo.
...and I have to give the people behind Reality Bites credit for the line "Because Mom, I'm not retarded."
In the colloquial sense of the word however, a good example of irony would be having characters bemoaning the ham-fisted attempts by the baby boomers to define and package generation X, in a movie that ham-fistedly attempts to define and package Gen-X.
The makers of Reality Bites however are apparently immune to irony, even when it is attached to its own backside: We are supposed to be (humourously) appalled right along with Rider's character when the documentary she has been constantly working on gets commercialised and dumbed down. Her documentary, you see, gets distilled into a series of catch-phrases and disconnected, clichéd scenes set to a soundtrack of pop music, and abounding with product placements. Sadly, the butchered documentary is indistinguishable from the rest of the movie in this sense.
Reality Bites attempts to be Diner, or The Big Chill for Gen X, but instead ends up being more of a St Elmo's Fire for the 90s. It rings false almost continuously. There is never an interaction between characters that doesn't seem contrived and forced. From moment to moment they move from one artificial scenario to another; dancing in the gas station, the episode of "Good Times" game, everything the characters do feels fake.
This movie feels like it was written by someone who conducted interviews with gen Xers, watched how they live, and then wrote a story, based on the romantic comedy formula, that included all the touchstones and references they felt would appeal to Gen Xers.
In short, Reality Bites was written and directed by people who just didn't get Gen X. Worse though, they also didn't get how to make a good movie.
On the plus side, you can watch for appearances by Andy Dick, David Spade, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Renee Zellweger in tiny roles, and this may have been the career-defining moment for Janeane Garofolo.
...and I have to give the people behind Reality Bites credit for the line "Because Mom, I'm not retarded."