Better Luck Tomorrow (2002) Reviews

• Asian film graduate that liked film

  madplo502004-01-14

  Being Asian and a film study graduate doesn't validate what I"m gonna say, but I thought it would get somebody's attention. What I did like about this film is that it reminded me a lot of what I did in Highschool, minus killing people and playing with guns. I got really good grades in school, and after a while me and my friends would goof around and cause a lot of trouble. Add in all the alcohol, parties, and drugs, you have an interesting side story for bored students. Most people wouldn't agree with what I said, but hey its my review. Two, being Asian American and growing up in a middle class-uppermiddle class area, it was strange being one of the few asian americans around. people might look down on this film as "gimicky" because it gained attention because it was an all asian american cast. well here's something peole who are not asian american maybe should consider: when you're asian american, and you live in an area heavily populated by caucasions and feel like an obvious minority, you'll naturally start a clique of your own, that, low and behold, has other asian americans primarily in it. the group of friends in this film are asian american not just to start some gimmicky marketing scheme. this is what often happens in real life. certain subtleties like this can't be overtly explained, but will be appreciated by its asian american audience because it hits pretty solid. this is very much an asian american film, even though people don't like all the violence and blah blah blah. now from a film perspective, i like the stylistic techniques lin used. he changes film speed a lot, which is a lost art in film. this film reminded me alot of Scorsese's "Mean Streets," plus with the obvious "Good Fellas" homage in the film w/ the continuous shot where the group walks into the party where the fight breaks out. i like how this film worked hard to challenge general film conventions. this film breaks down into five acts (not the standard hollywood three), has asian americans playing roles that are reserved not for them, and has a post modern ending. american audiences are used to having everything resolved at the end, with clearly defined moral positioning. i don't think people knew how to respond to the ending, and felt kind of empty. well guess what, osama bin laden was never caught, and some 30% of murders are never solved or have their killers brought to justice. i felt that the ending was appropriate

• more than what I expected

  botkiller2004-08-11

  I picked this film up on a whim, and I thought that I knew what it was going to be about, but I was mistaken; I didn't expect the dark comedy/tragedy that the film ended up being. However, this was not bad. I have watched tons of films wherein at one point, you say to yourself, "Ok, this is just not possible", and you want to think that it's not, because the characters don't seem to deserve what you know what will happen to them. "Very bad things" with Jon Favreau comes to mind, but "Better Luck Tomorrow" actually connected me to the characters and made me really feel like I just wanted to scream at them and say tell them not to go down the road they were following! This is something that not many films can do ("Bad things" included). This film is quite impressive, especially considering it was shot for a VERY shoestring budget, and had some great camera work and very solid editing. It did not in any way look like an amateur film, at all. I don't understand how this film has been branded "shallow"; it takes an original story and tells it in a convincing manner not characteristic of many films lately. On one final note, all the acting is great, and I really don't care if anyone in it was thirty years old playing a seventeen year old, they were great performances and they had actual heart behind them. If you have a chance, see this film, but be prepared to get a little more than what you thought you would.

• Gripping, occasionally self-conscious, but a brave, awesome feat in the end

  Quinoa19842003-05-11

  Director Justin Lin's drama, Better Luck Tomorrow, brought back memories of seeing Larry Clark's Bully on TV, which was also about teens who looked for partying to have something to do with their time in the midst of dreary, same-temperature-all-the-time suburbia. But this time, Lin has his teenage characters not as aimless- these kids, and at least the lead, have futures and/or aspirations, thanks to rich families, and because of which feel secure in their side life's of drug-dealing and robbery. The beginning sets a perfect mood, as two Asian-Americans lie in their backyard, basking in a hazing heat, think they hear one of their beepers, and realize that the sound is coming from under the soil, alongside with a body. This is set up not to spoil the story (this tale is inspired by true events some eleven years ago), but to set up the slick, if bleak, atmosphere. The central character of Lin's film is Ben, a JV Basketball player who rarely gets picked to play, repeats words he picks up in the dictionary over and over in preparation for SAT's, and works a part-time job in a food court so he'll have something to put on college applications. Along with this are his friends, Virgil, Han, and Daric, the last of which being the most intriguing of the supporting characters. Instead of Lin getting overtly cocky with his plot ideas and characters, he creates a study of them, and of the paths they are each on in their high times of adolescence. He does this in a style that is kinetic even in scenes that slow down or just have minor dialogue, and when things pick up they pick up (and slow down) at the right pace. We get a sense where the movie will take us, yet by the time it does it's surely not as expected. When the last scene rolls around, and Ben has made decisions that will possibly effect the outcome of his life, it's clear that Lin has made a film for MTV that has a life-force, a cool if sorrowful spirit, and an understanding of the additudes of youth that skims close to the line of a soap, but never is stupid enough to even try it. Some will leave cheated; I think this it may be one of the best films of the year, a little gem for the Asian-American community. Between A and A+ (A because of a slightly weak side-plot with the character of Stephanie)

• Anyone trying to understand today's affluent youth culture would do well to start here

  citrus5382003-09-21

  First of all, this is a film about wealthy middle-class Asian teens. Too much smoking? Too much profanity? It seems a lot of IMDB users are out of touch with suburban teen culture. One user even complained about the "the ubiquitous melancholy feeling you'll have throughout watching the movie (which) will stick with you hours after thanks to the resolutionless ending." That's like complaining about Nietzche because he's depressing. That said, this is an EXTREMELY good movie. Anyone trying to understand today's affluent youth culture would do well to start here. It is true that the leads in this movie did not have to be Asians, but anyone who thinks this is a valid complaint should go visit a SoCal high school and check out the student population. Guess what you'll find? And while you're at it, could you please name a drama starring Asian people? Joy Luck Club? Okay, what else? Exactly. I think it's also important to point out that MTV had no part in the creation of this movie. All they did was see the movie AFTER it had been made and agree to distribute it. Makes you wonder how valid most of these comments are when the writers don't even bother to read about the movie to understand it better.

• A Disturbing View of the Slide Into Anomie

  lawprof2004-02-20

  "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.