Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Justin Lin

Writers:

Ernesto Foronda (written by) &
Justin Lin (written by) ...

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Never underestimate an overachiever.

Plot:

A group of over-achieving Asian-American high school seniors enjoy a power trip when they dip into extra-curricular criminal activities.

Plot Keywords:

High School | Overachiever | Asian American | Shallow Grave | Prostitution

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Parry Shen	...	Ben Manibag
Jason Tobin	...	Virgil Hu
Shirley Anderson	...	Hot Dog Planet Customer
Nanette Matoba	...	Housewife
Kenji Matoba	...	Toddler
Sung Kang	...	Han
Ashley Arai	...	Cheerleader
Danielle Conner	...	Cheerleader
Karen DiTota	...	Cheerleader
Smita Satiani	...	Cheerleader
Kristen Stinson	...	Cheerleader
Jeff DeJohn	...	Ryan
Robert Zepeda	...	Jock
Collin Kahey	...	Jock
Christopher J. Francis	...	Jock

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, drug use, language and sexuality.

Runtime:

101 min | USA:98 min (2003 version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | New Zealand:R16 | Australia:MA | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Alhambra, California, USA

Company:

Cherry Sky Films

Trivia:

Original prints of the film's theatrical poster misspelled Parry Shen's name as "Perry Shen".

Goofs:

Continuity: During a scene where the four main characters are going to a high school party, the group of kids partying in the front of the house are the same kids you see partying in the back 10 seconds later.

Quotes:

Stephanie Vandergosh: You know how you make decisions that lead to other decisions but you don't remember why you made those decisions in the first place.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 2004 IFP/West Independent Spirit Awards (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Repeater

A Disturbing View of the Slide Into Anomie

"Better Luck Tomorrow" has attracted much IMDb comment despite being shown in few theaters and then over a short period. Now available in DVD it will clearly garner a slowly widening audience by word of mouth. And it should.

This idie film operates on several levels. The story of a loose cohort of high school high achievers, mostly Asian-American, they are simultaneously self-challenged to make it to the Ivies while at the same time drifting in an affluent bubble of moral emptiness. They volunteer for public service project for points to strengthen their "apps" without any real commitment to the values of service.

Ben is the central character, a youth of untapped ability and boundless promise who seems unable to find any real meaning in his academic goals. The others are a cross-section of teenagers running from the daring to the reckless to the pathological.

He slowly falls hard for Stephanie, a beautiful classmate (actually almost thirty when the film was made but you'd never know it). She has a manipulative, rich boyfriend, "Stevo," and her relationship with him is both resistant and dependent. Girls in this film are ancillary arm candy for the males. Stephanie, who has issues of her own, she refers to her obligatory therapist, knows she's dominated by Steve but resisting submissiveness is very hard. Asian-American or not, Stephanie is a very recognizable teenager. Not too different a story from many high school buddy films, that part.

What is different and distinctive about this story are two factors. The first is that Ben and his friends start running scams at stores to get money for stolen merchandise returned for refunds and then graduate to both selling and using drugs. Their criminal activities become both more sinister and essentially aimless as challenge predominates over possible gain. To describe more would be to give away a genuinely original story line.

The second factor that separates "Better Luck Tomorrow" from the usual run-of-the-mill teen angst flick is the total absence of adult authority figures- parents, teachers (one biology teacher has a brief, colorless classroom presence), police (a sole cop is shown in a couple of seconds in a hallway, almost an opaque shadow). These kids have wheels and money but there's no evidence of their being accountable to anybody. Their ambitions and schemes are their sole interior reality.

Many IMDb comments are from Asian-Americans who view the characters as reflecting their own background. There is a brutal fight scene between the Asian boys and white kids at an unsupervised (of course) booze bash but much of the behavior that escalates into disaster isn't limited to any racial or ethnic group. I'm not even sure I feel comfortable dismissing the behavior as just another example of SoCal teen life.

The acting here, by a cast unknown (check IMDb for their names) is outstanding as is the direction and cinematography that pictures a slightly bleached suburb mirroring the superficiality of the central male characters. Anomie rather than evil is the malevolent controlling force for most of the boys.

A very disturbing film-one that does and should arouse discussion.

8/10.