Reality Bites is a 1994 American romantic comedy drama film written by Helen Childress and directed by Ben Stiller, in his directorial debut. It stars Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke and Stiller, with supporting roles by Janeane Garofalo and Steve Zahn.
The plot follows Lelaina (Ryder), an aspiring videographer working on a documentary called Reality Bites about the disenchanted lives of her friends and roommates. Their challenges exemplify some of the career and lifestyle choices faced by Generation X. The film received mixed reviews from critics, and grossed $40.9 million worldwide against an $11.5 million budget.
Critics highlighted the performances of Ryder, Hawke and Garofalo in particular. In the years since the initial release of the film, it has achieved cult status and has been singled out as one of the films that captured the zeitgeist of the early 1990s Grunge scene among young adults, while also bringing attention to various issues that plagued young Americans at the time.
RCA met with the film’s music supervisor Karyn Rachtman, and Stiller, three weeks into filming, to discuss the soundtrack album. They finalized a deal and the label opened its roster to the director, who picked only one band: Me Phi Me. RCA aggressively marketed the album and had five tracks on rotation on radio and MTV.
The video for Crowded House’s Locked Out was updated to include footage from the film. In addition, the video for “Spin the Bottle” by the Juliana Hatfield Three was directed by Stiller and featured clips from the film as well.
The soundtrack sold 1.2 million units and reached #13 on the Billboard 200. The album also earned a No. 1 single with Lisa Loeb‘s Stay (I Missed You)“. The soundtrack peaked at number 2 in Australia and was certified platinum.
The film’s soundtrack includes songs by World Party, Squeeze, The Knack (a remixed version of My Sharona featured prominently in one scene from the film), Juliana Hatfield, Social Distortion, and two contributions from Crowded House (Locked Out and Something So Strong), in addition to the runaway hit Stay (I Missed You) by Lisa Loeb, which earned Loeb the distinction of being the first artist to top the Hot 100 before being signed to any record label.
It also includes Conjunction Junction from Schoolhouse Rock!, another song brought into the foreground of a film full of pop culture references.
Tracklist:
- My Sharona: The Knack
- Spin the Bottle: Juliana Hatfield Three
- Bed of Roses: The Indians
- When You Come Back to Me: World Party
- Going, Going, Gone: The Posies
- Stay (I Missed You): Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories
- All I Want Is You: U2
- Locked Out: Crowded House
- Spinning Around Over You: Lenny Kravitz
- I’m Nuthin’: Ethan Hawke
- Turnip Farm: Dinosaur Jr.
- Revival!: Me Phi Me
- Tempted: Squeeze
- Baby, I Love Your Way: Big Mountain
