"Reality Bites," Real and Imagined

There are some films and TV shows that you see in your youth and remember as being simply wonderful. Flawless, really. Then sometimes you see them again when you're a bit older and realize that they are not actually very good at all. (For me, Mike Myers' "So I Married an Axe Murderer" and the series "Perfect Strangers.") "Reality Bites" is not one of those movies. I watched it again last night on the We channel and was kind of bowled over by how it may even be better than I remembered it. Maybe this is because I don't think I've seen it since graduating from college, and therefore have a new appreciation for Troy Dyer's wisdom ("The only thing you have to be at 23 is yourself.") and Laney's job search (David Spade at the fast food joint: "There's a reason I've been here six months.") Maybe it's because Ethan Hawke hasn't looked that good in years or because Janeane Garofalo's bangs are back in style. Maybe it's the soundtrack--the "My Sharona" scene in the gas station food mart, the wonderfully mopey scenes at the end set to U2's "All I Want is You." In any case, next time you're at a parent's house for a holiday that you are half-heartedly celebrating and find yourself alone and kind of bored at 11 p.m., I highly recommend revisiting what I now consider a classic.