From the 1994 film review linked to above —
Reality Bites – Peter Travers in Rolling Stone , Feb. 1994
"Life after college – the time between graduation and
finding a job that pays your rent without making you puke.
Panic time. By spinning something fresh out of something
familiar, Reality Bites scores the first comedy knockout of
the new year. It also brings out the vibrant best in Winona
Ryder and Ethan Hawke as friends who resist being lovers,
makes a star of Janeane Garofalo as their tart-tongued
buddy and puts Ben Stiller on the map as a director."