Synopsis
This film was one of the more mainstream offerings in the array of films that emphasized the overly hyped "Generation X" phenomenon, a list that ranges from Slacker to Singles and includes a host of other films. Winona Ryder stars as Lelaina, a recent college graduate. Out on her own and independent from her supportive, but out-of-touch parents, Lelaina faces the realities of careers and relationships. She can't stand her internship under a local television personality (John Mahoney), and she's forced to choose between Michael (Ben Stiller), a well-intentioned music-video network executive, and Troy (Ethan Hawke), a brooding, sensitive slacker. Meanwhile, she must also protect the artistic integrity of "Reality Bites," a video documentary that depicts the everyday lives of her friends (Hawke, Janeane Garofalo, and Steve Zahn). This 1994 release also marks the feature directorial debut of Ben Stiller.
What Critics Say
No Hollywood.com review at this time
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Movie News
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'Reality Bites' for Ben Stiller: He's Married
HOLLYWOOD, May 17, 2000 -- Hey, Ben Stiller is "Keeping the Faith!" Yes, the 34-year-old actor/director wed 28-year-old Marcia Brady impersonator (aka, actress Christine Taylor of "The Brady Bunch Movie") Saturday on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.
The couple became engaged last November. Before getting locked up for good with Taylor, Stiller previously did the fiance thing with actress Jeanne Tripplehorn ("The Firm").
As for our lame lead? Well, the first rule of Clever Entertainment Writing is to come up with a clever play of an actor's credit, so we figured "Keeping the Faith," low-rent movie though it may be, worked better than "The Cable Guy" or, well, "Reality Bites."
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Reality bites
NBC's Thursday-night Must-See TV may not have topped TV viewers' "must" list last week, but a lot of them did tune into the network's reality and quiz shows -- enough, in fact to give the network a win for the week.