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dangermousieToday's movie rec of the day is Reality Bites, a semi-forgotten 1994 gem about being young and love and friendship and dealing with the grown-up world and all sorts of other things. It's also one of those Hollywood rarities: a genuinely romantic film.
RB deals with the "Generation X," as represented by a group of friends graduating from college in 1995, none of them with any good job prospects or much of a future. There is Lelaina (Wynona Ryder, before she went off the rails, in one of her most endearing performances), a valeditorian, and an aspiring documentary filmmaker, whose family's idea of help to her when she is broke is to tell her to be self-reliant, and who is forced to work as an assistant to a narcissistic TV personality. There is Troy (played by Ethan Hawke as this incredibly attractive mess), Lelaina's best friend and someone who 'refuses to buy into consummerist culture' which in practice means he sings in a band, and is intellectually abrasive, and completely broke. There is Vickie (Jeanine Garafalo when she was good), a slutty, straight-forward girl who ends up working at the Gap. And then there is Sammy (Steve Zahn, good as always), a gay guy who has yet to come out to his parents. Lelaina lives with them and films them in her documentary, and gets fed up with them and cannot let them go.
The movie actually centers around Lelaina and Troy and a young executive Michael (played by Ben Stiller before he decided gross-out was the way to go), who ends up dating Lelaina and tries to get her documentary off the ground. Michael seems in a completely different universe: successful, with a career, 'establishment.' Troy, for one, cannot stand him and makes him a subject of his barbs. And where the movie is grown up is that it's Michael who probably turns out the most mature and well-adjusted of the group. Someone like Troy would not be able to stand Michael, but the movie, unlike Troy, doesn't really take sides between them. And, to me, the heart of the story is the relationship between Lelaina and Troy. This is one of those rare movies that convinces me both of them being best friends, uniquely compatible, and of the chemistry between them. I am such a sucker for 'best friends turned lovers' scenario. And it's that undercurrent of jealousy and attraction that gives their scenes (and their fights) the added edge. And of course, this movie has one of the rare sex scenes that turn me into goo: Lelalina has seen her documentary dreams shot in smoke, and when Troy comes home, he finds her heartbroken. And in the course of consoling her, he ends up telling her he loves her and there is kissing and then there is a sex scene, and it's very not graphic but it's amazingly tender and the awed look on his face when he tells her that he's wanted her like this all these years is...guuuuuh. And of course, not being used to relationships he bolts the next morning and they have a huge fight that day and their responses, both hurt and cautious and afraid to trust and misconstruing are so realistic it hurts...
And then there is that scene near the end when she rushes out of the house to grab a taxi which pulled up but the taxi is gone and then she sees Troy on the steps and he tells her he has a 'planet of regret' on his shoulders and he knows it's too late but he wanted to tell he wishes he could go back to the day after they made love and acted differently but he knows he can't and he just wanted to let her know he loves her and he is so emotionally open and vulnerable and no cynical masks or prickly defenses in place, and with no expectation of anything, and then he sees the bag on her shoulder and asks her where she was going and she replies "to look for you" and guuuuuuh.
These characters can be nasty, and self-absorbed, and they come across as so young to me (they are in their early twenties) but what really gets me is the realness of the dialogue: I remember trying to debate philosophical points at two in the morning, and the importance of figuring yourself out, and the giddy rush of attraction mixed with uncertainty when a relationship starts.
And just to prove how good the script is, here are some sample quotes:
Answering Machine: At the beep, please leave your name, number and a brief justification of the ontological necessity of modern man's existential dilemma and we'll get back to you.
Troy: So what do you say, Lelaina?
Lelaina: I'm not a valedictorian but I play one on tv.
Troy: We all know you slept your way to the podium.
Lelaina: He's so cheesy, I can't watch him without crackers.
Vickie: Do you ever wish you were a lesbian? Don't you think it would be so much easier?
Lelaina: Sometimes, but I don't know. I could never go through with it. I'd start laughing or something.
Vickie: That is such a shame because I have had it with men.
Vicky: My favorite part about graduating now will be dodging my student loan officer for the rest of my life. He will be in cahoots with the Columbia Record and Tape Company guy... been after my ass for years.
Lelaina: I'd like to somehow make a difference in peoples' lives.
Troy: And I... I would like to buy them all a Coke.
Lelaina: And you wonder why we never got involved?
Lelaina: Are you religious?
Michael: Um, uh, I guess uh, I guess I'm, uh a non-practicing Jew.
Lelaina: Hey, I'm a non-practicing virgin.
Vicky: Here’s the deal, I’m gonna take Sam against his will and straighten him out because I truly believe that if we can get two women on the Supreme Court, we can get at least one on you, Sam.
Lelaina: Quick, Vicky, whats your social security?
Vicky: Uhm... 851-259-357.
Troy: Very impressive.
Vicky: Thats the only thing I really learned in college... Sometimes I get that not so fresh feeling.
Lelaina: Vicky, he will turn this place into a den of slack.
Troy: What the hell is your problem?
Lelaina: I have to work around here and unfortunately, Troy, you are a master at the art of time suckage.
Troy: Oh well I'm sorry Miss poster-girl for the worker's party but until I get that uh toe-hold in the burger industry I've got a little time to suck. I'd rather check into a shelter then deal with her shit.
Lelaina: Troy, aren't you excited?
Troy: I'm bursting with fruit flavor.
Lelaina: Look who's mocking. All you do around here, Troy, is eat and couch and fondle the remote control.
Troy: I am not under any orders to make the world a better place.
Lelaina: Well, then what good are you?
Troy: You're a pathological optimist.
Lelaina:: You’re pathological.
Vicky:: Oh why don’t you guys just do it and get it over with, I’m starving.
((phone rings))
Troy: Hello, you've reached the winter of our discontent.
Troy: Did he dazzle you with his extensive knowledge of mineral water or was it his in-depth analysis of Marky Mark that finally reeled you in? I just would have liked to have been there to watch how you rationalized sleeping with a yuppie-head cheeseball on the first date.
Lelaina: He's not a yuppie.
Troy: He's the reason why Cliff's Notes were invented.
Troy: There's no point to any of this. It's all just a... a random lottery of meaningless tragedy and a series of near escapes. So I take pleasure in the details. You know... a quarter-pounder with cheese, those are good, the sky about ten minutes before it starts to rain, the moment where your laughter becomes a cackle... and I sit back and I smoke my Camel Straights and I ride my own melt.
Troy: One of these days I'm gonna wake up, before noon-
Lelaina: Yeah right.
Troy: I'm gonna turn on the tv and there Bryant Gumble will be and he'll say, 'Today we have with us the Pulitzer-prize winning documentarian Lelaina Pierce. Lelaina, after your first film, 'Why Barbie is Bad', you seemed to have forgotten all about your best friend, Troy Dyer.'
Lelaina: Troy... who? What was that name again? Oh, right through the heart!
Troy: I'll probably be working at Whole Foods you know, playing warehouses and hanging around places like the Radio Shack screaming that I used to know you and you'll be there in the lights and all beautiful and shit.
Lelaina: Oh, Troy, no no no no no, that would never happen. They'd never HIRE you at Whole Foods.
Troy:: See Lainy, this is all we need. A couple of smokes, a cup of coffee, and a little bit of conversation. You and me and five bucks.
Lelaina:: You got it!
Lelaina: I mean, these job interviews, Troy... The word “vivesection” a staggering understatement. I mean, can you define irony?
Troy: Its when the actual meaning is the complete opposite from the literal meaning.
Lelaina: My God, where were you when I needed you today?
Vicky: He’s weird. He’s strange. He’s sloppy. He’s a total nightmare for women... I can’t believe I haven’t slept with him yet.
Troy: What happened to your normal clothes?
Michael: Wow, Lelaina, look at you. You look... Where'd you get that dress?
Lelaina: Um... I don't know, I just bought it. But I think I'm gonna go change...
Michael: No don't, you look beautiful. You look like... you look like...
Troy: A doily.
Michael: Have I stepped over some line in the sands of coolness with you, because excuse me if somebody doesn't know the secret handshake with you.
Troy: There's no secret handshake. There's an IQ prerequisite, but there's no secret handshake.
Lelaina: I just don’t understand why things just can’t go back to normal at the end of the half hour like on the Brady Bunch or something.
Troy: Well, ‘cause Mr. Brady died of AIDS. Things don’t turn out like that.
Lelaina: I was really gonna be something by the age of 23.
Troy: Honey, the only thing you have to be by the age of 23 is yourself.
Lelaina: I don’t know who that is anymore.
Troy: I do. And we all love her. I love her. She breaks my heart again and again but I love her.
Troy: I wanted to talk to you.
Lelaina: What the hell do you care? You totally bailed on me this morning.
Troy: I panicked. It happens. I thought we could work it out, you know. I mean, I don't know if now is the right time for us. Look, I meant everything that I said to you last night. Don't look at me like that. Don't look at me like that. That's not what I'm saying. I'm not saying I...Look, you are the only woman...that I could ever commit myself to.
Lelaina: So what? Do I get a medal? I win the big commitment cook-off, and you just run away? I knew this was gonna happen! I knew this was gonna happen!
Troy: I don't want to lose you. I've never been in an experience like this before. I've never had sex with somebody that I loved before.
Lelaina: Oh well, congratulations, Troy Dyer. Welcome to the world of the emotionally mature. It's a very nice place to visit. Hey, you might run in to Michael he lives here.
Troy: Oh yeah, Michael Michael. He's so mature because he lets you navigate that entire relationship. Well, I'm sorry Lelaina, but you can't navigate me. I might do mean things and hurt you and I might run away without your permission and you might hate me forever and I know that scares the shit out of you because I'm the only real thing that you have.
Lelaina: Yeah, well that ain't real much.
Troy: What happened was that, um...I kind of got this arcane glimpse at the universe. And the best thing that I can say about that is...I don't know. I...I have this... this planet of regret...sitting on my shoulders. And you have no idea how much I wish that I could go back... to that morning after we made love...and do everything different...But I know that I can't, so...I thought that I would come here and tell you something. And what I wanted to tell you...
was that I love you...and, uh... just wanted to make sure that that was clear...so that there wasn't any confusion.
Gosh, it seems like I put the whole freaking script there!
And a couple of RB pics.
Poster:
The group of friends:
Troy and Lelaina:
And because I really feel like it now, an Ethan Hawke picspam. He's been in way too many movies I love: Reality Bites, Hamlet, Before Sunset, Gattaca, Dead Poets Society, Before Sunrise.
RB deals with the "Generation X," as represented by a group of friends graduating from college in 1995, none of them with any good job prospects or much of a future. There is Lelaina (Wynona Ryder, before she went off the rails, in one of her most endearing performances), a valeditorian, and an aspiring documentary filmmaker, whose family's idea of help to her when she is broke is to tell her to be self-reliant, and who is forced to work as an assistant to a narcissistic TV personality. There is Troy (played by Ethan Hawke as this incredibly attractive mess), Lelaina's best friend and someone who 'refuses to buy into consummerist culture' which in practice means he sings in a band, and is intellectually abrasive, and completely broke. There is Vickie (Jeanine Garafalo when she was good), a slutty, straight-forward girl who ends up working at the Gap. And then there is Sammy (Steve Zahn, good as always), a gay guy who has yet to come out to his parents. Lelaina lives with them and films them in her documentary, and gets fed up with them and cannot let them go.
The movie actually centers around Lelaina and Troy and a young executive Michael (played by Ben Stiller before he decided gross-out was the way to go), who ends up dating Lelaina and tries to get her documentary off the ground. Michael seems in a completely different universe: successful, with a career, 'establishment.' Troy, for one, cannot stand him and makes him a subject of his barbs. And where the movie is grown up is that it's Michael who probably turns out the most mature and well-adjusted of the group. Someone like Troy would not be able to stand Michael, but the movie, unlike Troy, doesn't really take sides between them. And, to me, the heart of the story is the relationship between Lelaina and Troy. This is one of those rare movies that convinces me both of them being best friends, uniquely compatible, and of the chemistry between them. I am such a sucker for 'best friends turned lovers' scenario. And it's that undercurrent of jealousy and attraction that gives their scenes (and their fights) the added edge. And of course, this movie has one of the rare sex scenes that turn me into goo: Lelalina has seen her documentary dreams shot in smoke, and when Troy comes home, he finds her heartbroken. And in the course of consoling her, he ends up telling her he loves her and there is kissing and then there is a sex scene, and it's very not graphic but it's amazingly tender and the awed look on his face when he tells her that he's wanted her like this all these years is...guuuuuh. And of course, not being used to relationships he bolts the next morning and they have a huge fight that day and their responses, both hurt and cautious and afraid to trust and misconstruing are so realistic it hurts...
And then there is that scene near the end when she rushes out of the house to grab a taxi which pulled up but the taxi is gone and then she sees Troy on the steps and he tells her he has a 'planet of regret' on his shoulders and he knows it's too late but he wanted to tell he wishes he could go back to the day after they made love and acted differently but he knows he can't and he just wanted to let her know he loves her and he is so emotionally open and vulnerable and no cynical masks or prickly defenses in place, and with no expectation of anything, and then he sees the bag on her shoulder and asks her where she was going and she replies "to look for you" and guuuuuuh.
These characters can be nasty, and self-absorbed, and they come across as so young to me (they are in their early twenties) but what really gets me is the realness of the dialogue: I remember trying to debate philosophical points at two in the morning, and the importance of figuring yourself out, and the giddy rush of attraction mixed with uncertainty when a relationship starts.
And just to prove how good the script is, here are some sample quotes:
Answering Machine: At the beep, please leave your name, number and a brief justification of the ontological necessity of modern man's existential dilemma and we'll get back to you.
Troy: So what do you say, Lelaina?
Lelaina: I'm not a valedictorian but I play one on tv.
Troy: We all know you slept your way to the podium.
Lelaina: He's so cheesy, I can't watch him without crackers.
Vickie: Do you ever wish you were a lesbian? Don't you think it would be so much easier?
Lelaina: Sometimes, but I don't know. I could never go through with it. I'd start laughing or something.
Vickie: That is such a shame because I have had it with men.
Vicky: My favorite part about graduating now will be dodging my student loan officer for the rest of my life. He will be in cahoots with the Columbia Record and Tape Company guy... been after my ass for years.
Lelaina: I'd like to somehow make a difference in peoples' lives.
Troy: And I... I would like to buy them all a Coke.
Lelaina: And you wonder why we never got involved?
Lelaina: Are you religious?
Michael: Um, uh, I guess uh, I guess I'm, uh a non-practicing Jew.
Lelaina: Hey, I'm a non-practicing virgin.
Vicky: Here’s the deal, I’m gonna take Sam against his will and straighten him out because I truly believe that if we can get two women on the Supreme Court, we can get at least one on you, Sam.
Lelaina: Quick, Vicky, whats your social security?
Vicky: Uhm... 851-259-357.
Troy: Very impressive.
Vicky: Thats the only thing I really learned in college... Sometimes I get that not so fresh feeling.
Lelaina: Vicky, he will turn this place into a den of slack.
Troy: What the hell is your problem?
Lelaina: I have to work around here and unfortunately, Troy, you are a master at the art of time suckage.
Troy: Oh well I'm sorry Miss poster-girl for the worker's party but until I get that uh toe-hold in the burger industry I've got a little time to suck. I'd rather check into a shelter then deal with her shit.
Lelaina: Troy, aren't you excited?
Troy: I'm bursting with fruit flavor.
Lelaina: Look who's mocking. All you do around here, Troy, is eat and couch and fondle the remote control.
Troy: I am not under any orders to make the world a better place.
Lelaina: Well, then what good are you?
Troy: You're a pathological optimist.
Lelaina:: You’re pathological.
Vicky:: Oh why don’t you guys just do it and get it over with, I’m starving.
((phone rings))
Troy: Hello, you've reached the winter of our discontent.
Troy: Did he dazzle you with his extensive knowledge of mineral water or was it his in-depth analysis of Marky Mark that finally reeled you in? I just would have liked to have been there to watch how you rationalized sleeping with a yuppie-head cheeseball on the first date.
Lelaina: He's not a yuppie.
Troy: He's the reason why Cliff's Notes were invented.
Troy: There's no point to any of this. It's all just a... a random lottery of meaningless tragedy and a series of near escapes. So I take pleasure in the details. You know... a quarter-pounder with cheese, those are good, the sky about ten minutes before it starts to rain, the moment where your laughter becomes a cackle... and I sit back and I smoke my Camel Straights and I ride my own melt.
Troy: One of these days I'm gonna wake up, before noon-
Lelaina: Yeah right.
Troy: I'm gonna turn on the tv and there Bryant Gumble will be and he'll say, 'Today we have with us the Pulitzer-prize winning documentarian Lelaina Pierce. Lelaina, after your first film, 'Why Barbie is Bad', you seemed to have forgotten all about your best friend, Troy Dyer.'
Lelaina: Troy... who? What was that name again? Oh, right through the heart!
Troy: I'll probably be working at Whole Foods you know, playing warehouses and hanging around places like the Radio Shack screaming that I used to know you and you'll be there in the lights and all beautiful and shit.
Lelaina: Oh, Troy, no no no no no, that would never happen. They'd never HIRE you at Whole Foods.
Troy:: See Lainy, this is all we need. A couple of smokes, a cup of coffee, and a little bit of conversation. You and me and five bucks.
Lelaina:: You got it!
Lelaina: I mean, these job interviews, Troy... The word “vivesection” a staggering understatement. I mean, can you define irony?
Troy: Its when the actual meaning is the complete opposite from the literal meaning.
Lelaina: My God, where were you when I needed you today?
Vicky: He’s weird. He’s strange. He’s sloppy. He’s a total nightmare for women... I can’t believe I haven’t slept with him yet.
Troy: What happened to your normal clothes?
Michael: Wow, Lelaina, look at you. You look... Where'd you get that dress?
Lelaina: Um... I don't know, I just bought it. But I think I'm gonna go change...
Michael: No don't, you look beautiful. You look like... you look like...
Troy: A doily.
Michael: Have I stepped over some line in the sands of coolness with you, because excuse me if somebody doesn't know the secret handshake with you.
Troy: There's no secret handshake. There's an IQ prerequisite, but there's no secret handshake.
Lelaina: I just don’t understand why things just can’t go back to normal at the end of the half hour like on the Brady Bunch or something.
Troy: Well, ‘cause Mr. Brady died of AIDS. Things don’t turn out like that.
Lelaina: I was really gonna be something by the age of 23.
Troy: Honey, the only thing you have to be by the age of 23 is yourself.
Lelaina: I don’t know who that is anymore.
Troy: I do. And we all love her. I love her. She breaks my heart again and again but I love her.
Troy: I wanted to talk to you.
Lelaina: What the hell do you care? You totally bailed on me this morning.
Troy: I panicked. It happens. I thought we could work it out, you know. I mean, I don't know if now is the right time for us. Look, I meant everything that I said to you last night. Don't look at me like that. Don't look at me like that. That's not what I'm saying. I'm not saying I...Look, you are the only woman...that I could ever commit myself to.
Lelaina: So what? Do I get a medal? I win the big commitment cook-off, and you just run away? I knew this was gonna happen! I knew this was gonna happen!
Troy: I don't want to lose you. I've never been in an experience like this before. I've never had sex with somebody that I loved before.
Lelaina: Oh well, congratulations, Troy Dyer. Welcome to the world of the emotionally mature. It's a very nice place to visit. Hey, you might run in to Michael he lives here.
Troy: Oh yeah, Michael Michael. He's so mature because he lets you navigate that entire relationship. Well, I'm sorry Lelaina, but you can't navigate me. I might do mean things and hurt you and I might run away without your permission and you might hate me forever and I know that scares the shit out of you because I'm the only real thing that you have.
Lelaina: Yeah, well that ain't real much.
Troy: What happened was that, um...I kind of got this arcane glimpse at the universe. And the best thing that I can say about that is...I don't know. I...I have this... this planet of regret...sitting on my shoulders. And you have no idea how much I wish that I could go back... to that morning after we made love...and do everything different...But I know that I can't, so...I thought that I would come here and tell you something. And what I wanted to tell you...
was that I love you...and, uh... just wanted to make sure that that was clear...so that there wasn't any confusion.
Gosh, it seems like I put the whole freaking script there!
And a couple of RB pics.
Poster:
The group of friends:
Troy and Lelaina:
And because I really feel like it now, an Ethan Hawke picspam. He's been in way too many movies I love: Reality Bites, Hamlet, Before Sunset, Gattaca, Dead Poets Society, Before Sunrise.
