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Parry Shen, Jason Tobin, Sung Kang, Roger Fan, John Cho ... see more see more... , Karin Anna Cheung , Jerry Mathers

A group of unlikely high school students take up crime as an extracurricular activity in this independent drama. Ben (Parry Shen) is a 16-year-old high school student who is the living embodiment of t... read more read more...he stereotypical Asian overachiever. Ben obsessively studies even though he gets straight A's, takes part in a dizzying variety of school activities and community volunteer work, which he thinks will look good on his resume to colleges, and is even a member of the basketball team, even though he spends most of the season riding the pine. Ben also hopes being part of the team will help him win the heart of Stephanie Vandergosh (Karin Anna Cheung), a cute but equally obsessive girl who is on the cheerleading squad. When the big man on campus, Daric (Roger Fan), publishes an article in the school newspaper that points out Ben's true role on the team is to add a touch of ethnic diversity to satisfy Board of Education requirements, Ben is so embarrassed he quits the team and imagines his academic future going up in smoke. Daric seizes the opportunity to propose that he and Ben go into business, creating and selling detailed cheat sheets for school tests and placement exams. The cheat sheets are an immediate hit, and soon Ben and Daric advance to other forms of low-level crime, including drug dealing and fencing stolen goods. Before long, Ben and Daric are joined by a handful of friends -- Ben's close friend and part-time kleptomaniac Virgil (Jason Tobin), Hong Kong gangster wannabe Han (Sung Kang), and Steve (John Cho), a kid from a wealthy family who happens to be dating Stephanie -- but they soon find themselves moving deeper into the criminal underworld than they ever anticipated, and things get ugly when they try to move on. Better Luck Tomorrow was enthusiastically received in its screenings at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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76% liked it

7,674 ratings

Critics

80% liked it

96 critics

R, 1 hr. 41 min.

Directed by: Justin Lin

Release Date: April 11, 2002

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DVD Release Date: September 30, 2003

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Flixster Reviews (558)

  • MovieGeek13
    February 25, 2011
    MovieGeek13
    Now this is how you make an independent movie! Completely original, trippy, and clever satire about Asian kids who can get away with anything as long as it looks like they've conformed to society's general stereotypes of their race.
    Director Justin Lin has a master's command of ... read morethe camera and the story he's telling. He also allows his actors to look like true movie stars, even though most of the audience may have never seem them before (except for John Cho). It just sucks that now, eight years after this movie's initial release, Lin has become a corporate tool making godawful Fast and Furious movies. The soul behind Better Luck Tomorrow is the soul of a true auteur.
  • paulsandberg
    October 10, 2010
    paulsandberg
    As the first film by director Lin, the title could be used for his next film, as this film shows that he has promise, but is still a bit rough around the edges.

    The film takes us inside the Asian community, showing us a group of smart Asian high school kids who know the drill ... read moreof grades = college = success, but are bored and not challenged by our current sad state of education.

    The main charactor is slowly brought into a web of crime, first by getting paid for creating cheat sheets, and then later getting into larcenty and finally, as things escalate and the Asian "gang of four's" reputation grows, into narcotics.

    At the center of the film is an Asian cheerleader who is dating Jon Cho (Sulu in the Trek remake). Cho, who disperses drugs and wisdom to the main charactor, for some reason (never fully explained) abhors all the high school melodrama, so coerces the main charactor into taking the cheerleader to a dance. It's obvious that the main charactor and the cheerleader have feelings for each other, and yet, again unexplained, the cheerleader seems somehow bound to Cho.

    The plot ramps up and there's an interesting twist (which could have been presented better) and then a final resolution that leaves several plates still spinning (kind of like life).

    Throughout the film there are several cinematic camera tricks, which hit the mark about half the time (and are annoying the other half), and overall the performances of the cast are good, though I thought that the cheerleader's portrayal was a bit uneven, perhaps due to the script that had her alternatevely playing hot and cold.

    The film also includes a trip to Vegas, which, while I found amusing, I also felt was totally superflous to the plot and felt tacked on (as if "hey, we need another ten minutes of film time"). I also found the Vegas scenes with the four amigos at the gaming tables to be absurd - Only one of the four could possibly pass for 21, so the scene rang very false.

    Yet, for the intelligent expose into teen life, and perhaps for a look behind the curtain at those 4.0 GPA Asians, this film was worth watching.
  • cosmo313
    December 21, 2009
    cosmo313
    Featuring a big influence from Scorsese, nods to Kids and The Basketball Diaries, and a refreshing take on familiarity, Justin Lin's debut Better Luck Tomorrow is an engaging, biting, satirical social commentary that is unforgettable and truly amazing. The style, which features s... read morepeed changes, a mix of editing techniques, and 5 acts (instead of 3), perfectly captures both the influence of who is behind the film, and the target audience (which happen to be connected one another). The way the film begins to get dark is great, especially because of the brilliantly employed subtlety. Lin showed so much promise with this film that it is disheartenening to see where his career has gone in the past 6-7 years. He needs to go back to movies like this, and quick.
  • arashxak
    August 7, 2008
    arashxak
    "...But like everything else in life, you get sick of it."
  • deano
    August 5, 2007
    deano
    Two thumbs up! Gripping, edgy and provocative film as what I think the gang are know as American-Asian Trainspotting.
  • mrbungle7821
    February 27, 2006
    mrbungle7821
    [center][img]http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/6408/photo174zn.jpg[/img][/center]


    [font=Arial][color=darkred]Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002) - The premise is undeniably amusing: game show host and creator Chuck Barris (Sam Rockwell) in between escorting [i]Dating G... read moreame[/i] couples and introducing [i]Gong Show[/i] losers, was a hired killer for the CIA. The directorial debut by George Clooney is a technical marvel. Clooney is highly inventive with scene changes, camera angles, lighting, editing, color palettes ... I don?t know whether to champion him or credit his excellent cinematographer, but hat?s off to whomever designed the look of this movie. Rockwell is great and carries the film well, though I think he lacks the proper ability for self-loathing that the character needs. Drew Barrymore and Julia Roberts have small parts as the women in Barris? life. I normally hate each actress but they come across as palatable, so that is another achievement. The brilliant weirdness of the story is tempered by famed scribe Charlie Kaufman?s astute sense of the intricately bizarre. Kaufman is a master of the offbeat, but he does more with his story structures and the ability to keep surprising than any other screenwriter. [i]Confessions of a Dangerous Mind[/i] is a cheeky diversion into the ?unauthorized autobiography? written by Barris himself. The movie itself is one big joke and Clooney tells it like a pro.[/color][/font]

    [font=Arial][color=darkred]Nate's Grade:B+[/color][/font]


    [font=Arial][color=darkred]Better Luck Tomorrow (2003) - This film shows a fascinating side to the underbelly to suburban malaise. The story centers on a group of Asian American friends that are social delinquents and petty criminals that can get away with it because they?re star students. It?s an interesting dichotomy in Justin Lin?s directorial debut. The cast is strong and the pacing is brisk. The opening 5 minutes yanks you into this world and places you in the hands of a confidant voice. Familiar elements abound like unrequited love, jealousy, crashing lows, but [i]Better Luck Tomorrow [/i]gives them a mildly fresh spin. The film?s familiar territory gets the better of it in a languid final act, but the ride is still an enjoyable and entertaining one at that.[/color][/font]

    [font=Arial][color=darkred]Nate's Grade: B[/color][/font]


    [font=Arial][color=darkred]Bulletproof Monk (2003) - This is one of the dumbest movies you will ever see. I don?t mean to sound overly sensational or alarmist, but this is the honest truth if you sit and watch all of [i]Bulletproof Monk[/i]. Item #1: The bad guys in the film are ?get this? the grandchildren of Nazis. Yes, that?s right, Nazis. We had to have Nazis as the bad guys. There?s actually a scene where a blonde-haired blue-eyed grand daughter wheels her decrepit Nazi grandpa around. Oh yeah, and one of the Nazis runs the ?get this? Museum of tolerance. Oh stop it, you?re killing me. Item #2: The titular monk (Chow-Yun Fat, pray for him) recruits pick-pocket Kar (Seann William Scott) to be his apprentice. Kar is an idiot. The Monk doesn?t help. His big mystery is ?get this? why hot dogs and hot dog buns come in different numbers? Man, haven?t heard that one since the third grade. I could swear the screenwriters of this are third graders. That would heartily explain why a character is called ?Mr. Funktastic.? Item 3#: The monk teaches in stupid opposite talk (?You cannot be free until you have been taken. You cannot be cold until you are hot. You cannot die until you have lived,? you try some). One of the monk?s lessons is that the laws of physics, mind you the LAWS of physics, can be bent just by putting your mind to it. He says gravity can be overcome if you just don?t believe in it. This is insane. At least in [i]The Matrix [/i]it had some plausibility. Item #4: The movie is a complete rip-off of [i]The Matrix[/i]. I?m not just talking style, no, I?m talking everything. There is a scene where the monk and Kar run through a street and building, defying gravity, being chased by men in suits and sunglasses, and they get to a roof where they must combat a helicopter. What movie does this sound like, hmmm? Item #5: The visual effects are done by ?get this? Burt Ward?s effects house. Yes, that?s right, the guy who played Robin on the campy 60s [i]Batman [/i]show has an effects company. And they did the horrible work on [i]Bulletproof Monk[/i]. This movie is so terrible at every level of filmmaking that it becomes hilarious to watch, in the same vein as 2001?s stinker [i]Dungeons and Dragons[/i]. I defy anyone to find merit in any of it. Sometimes you have to wonder what Hollywood was thinking.[/color][/font]

    [font=Arial][color=darkred]Nate's Grade: F[/color][/font]
  • RemiLogan
    March 26, 2011
    RemiLogan
    I remember seeing all this buzz for this movie back in high school and being very interested in seeing it, but never got the chance. I saw "Yellow" years later and got the two mixed up. I wish I'd seen this movie sooner, so many actors I've become familiar with on television or o... read moren the silver screen are in here: Sung Kang, Roger Fan, John Cho and Parry Shen

    It's weird seeing them all so young! Except for Sung Kang! The guy is almost 40 and he still looks like he's in his later 20s!
  • SunilJawahir
    April 12, 2009
    SunilJawahir
    John Cho is great in this dark humored high school/crime movie.
  • toejambaseball24
    November 11, 2007
    toejambaseball24
    Lots of things work about this movie, and it deals with many essentials of high school life that so many teen movies have avoided out of fear, ignorance, or maybe sheer laziness. It's portrayal of high school life for these characters is quite convincing, since it covers everythi... read moreng that high school is: funny, scary, confusing, pressure-filled, intense, and often times very dark. Its quick-pace, style, and accuracy make up for some unpolished dialogue and story structure. It's a good film, that definitely has some flaws, but they are easily overlooked when you consider director Justin Lin's passion and, most of all, his limited budget. It's one of those films whose flaws could turn into endearing qualities the more you watch it over time, similar to a Tarantino movie. I enjoyed it, thoroughly, and if every high school movie was this well-made, it wouldn't be the slacking genre that it is.
  • catlyst
    May 16, 2012
    catlyst
    Intriguing social commentary about a group of capable driven asian-american high-school students who seem to "have it all", and yet lack everything.

View All Better Luck Tomorrow Reviews

Critic Reviews

James Berardinelli
April 26, 2003
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

MTV (which bought this movie out of Sundance) believes the target audience to be high school and college students. I would argue that it's anyone in search of a well-made, thought-provoking motion pic... Full Review

Jeff Strickler
April 25, 2003
Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune

If this is what Lin can do for the Hollywood equivalent of pocket change, we can't wait to see what's possible when he has an actual budget at his disposal. Full Review

Tom Long
April 25, 2003
Tom Long, Detroit News

It's not a perfect work ... but it is so filled with energy, angst, talent, authenticity and passion that it stands heads above most supposed youth-culture releases.

Terry Lawson
April 25, 2003
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press

Perpetuates another stereotype: the one about affluent suburban teens who have everything they could ever want but so lack a moral compass that even murder seems like just another extracurricular acti...

Robert Denerstein
April 25, 2003
Robert Denerstein, Denver Rocky Mountain News

It makes you think about the clichéd pictures of Asian kids in the popular imagination and how painful it must be for them to carry the burden of perfection.

Steven Rea
April 24, 2003
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

With none of the smarmy voyeurism that taints Larry Clark's teen exposes, Better Luck Tomorrow manages to get at the truths and the traps of a high-strung segment of today's youth.

Roger Moore
April 24, 2003
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

The dialogue is school-hallway hip (MTV has a hand in distributing this), the humor consistently dark and the stereotypes ready for the puncturing.

Jami Bernard
April 22, 2003
Jami Bernard, New York Daily News

Most of writer-director Justin Lin's shapeless movie is as bland as the neighborhood. Full Review

Geoff Pevere
April 18, 2003
Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star

Although directed in a pop-smart style that eschews dark, deterministic melodramatics for an unsettlingly sunny tone ... the film also frustrates for having come so close to being something truly chal... Full Review

Bruce Westbrook
April 18, 2003
Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle

Beyond its mangled morals ... Better Luck is a riveting and stylized ride from a director with great promise. Full Review

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