Reality Bites
Last night I finally saw this movie nearly 20 years after it came out. It was one of the movies on Netflix Instant and since husband and I currently are without a show having finished Breaking Bad, we've been watching movies from the queue. I remember this movie being a big part of pop culture my freshmen year of high school. One of my friends had the soundtrack and I borrowed it. She would wax eloquently about Ethan Hawke's character and how she was in love with him. Sadly, I never was able to watch this slice of the 90s, because well, it was rated R and I was 15. R was forbidden to me at that age. It just ended up being one of those movies I never saw that everyone else did.
So, what's my review after having finally seen it at the ripe old age of 31? Well, it was a bit distracting to watch a movie that old. I mean the 90s don't feel like they were that long ago, but you can't help the laughs that happen when the main character pulls out a very large camcorder to shoot their documentary on. Not to mention the countless "Ahhh, what is that person wearing? I totally remember owning those type of shoes/dress/pants." The story wanted to be important, but I couldn't see it that way. Maybe that's just old me writing. The love story was very formulaic and the characters were as well. The corporate square, the Kurt Cobain musician, the not quite pretty but hey she's quirky girl, and Miss Gen X herself Winona Ryder etc etc. Near the end when the love triangle came into play and Ethan Hawke's character Troy lamented to Winona, "I've never made love to someone I was in love with before." I burst into a giggle fit.
That then degraded to something akin to MST3K where Sam and I traded off talking for Troy and making fun of his lines. In the end I just couldn't see this movie from the view point of someone living in 1994. To me the obvious choice for Winona was the Corporate Square and not the Kurt Cobain wannabe, but in 1994 I doubt I would have thought this way. I mean to the teens who grew up loving this movie ... who needs money and integrity when you have looooove.