A surprisingly sweet romantic comedy debut from Ben Stiller.
Comment
05/09/08
Reality Bites (1993)
63
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:41
Fresh:26
Rotten:15
Average Rating:5.9/10
Runtime: 1 hr 49 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: Lelaina Pierce (Winona Ryder) faces life after college, using a video documentary about her confused and drifting friends to advance her ambitions in the entertainment industry. When a video... [More]
Starring: Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, Ben Stiller, Janeane Garofalo
Director: Ben Stiller
Reviews for Reality Bites
Top CriticA romantic heart, caustic wit, and the energy of its fresh cast ensure the film's continued appeal.
05/09/08
Top CriticThere's probably a moderate little romantic comedy crying to get out here, but the film's vain striving for casual hip proves suffocatingly obtrusive.
02/09/06
Top Criticinsightful and engaging
11/08/04
Although overly melodramatic and stylised, this is still feelgood fodder at its most digestible.
01/01/00
Top CriticRemember Gen X? This is why you forgot it.
10/12/08
Although it never became the definitive document of Generation X, Reality Bites is a touchstone for anyone just out of college and stuck with more ideals than job prospects, not to mention a head full of bad-TV trivia.
08/14/07
In 1994, the novelty of seeing a romantic comedy written and directed by, as well as starring, people in their early 20s made for a certain freshness, but after a point this 'youthfulness' consists of little more than TV references.
08/07/07
It's often genuinely funny -- but it's still an establishment picture pretending it's not.
08/07/07
Reality Bites begins as a promising and eccentric tale of contemporary youth but evolves into a banal love story as predictable as any lush Hollywood affair.
08/07/07
Top CriticBen Stiller's feature directorial debut is a zeitgeust comedy, whose significance is more sociological than cinematic--It's "The Big Chill" for the twentysomething crowd in the Age of Clinton and AIDS.
01/30/07
Gen Xers looking for a good time probably found themselves cheated at having been pigeonholed like this and watching the film's fun, ironic beginning give way to goopy pathos.
05/26/06
Intensely likeable
06/07/04
No review available.
02/08/04
No review available.
08/20/03
No review available.
08/01/03
Already a period piece, but what fun
05/30/03
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Fresh Links
Featured
RT on YouTube 
Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.
RT on Twitter
Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.
IGN RSS Feeds