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Better Luck Tomorrow

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Better Luck Tomorrow (2003)

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Reviews Counted:95

Fresh:76

Rotten:19

Average Rating:7/10

Consensus: A promising work by Lin, the energetic Better Luck Tomorrow is disturbing and thought-provoking.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] Rated R for violence, drug use, language and sexuality

Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Apr 11, 2003 Limited

Box Office: $3,687,324

Synopsis: Everyone knows a person like Ben - the perfect Asian American high school teen - extremely intelligent, a perfectionist, overachiever whose tunnel vision leads to nothing less than graduating at... Everyone knows a person like Ben - the perfect Asian American high school teen - extremely intelligent, a perfectionist, overachiever whose tunnel vision leads to nothing less than graduating at the top of the class and acceptance to the best Ivy League university. Ben lives in an upper middle class, conservative suburb of Orange County, California. As Ben struggles to achieve social success in high school, we discover his darker side. Along with two friends, Virgil, a brilliant yet awkward, overeager and socially inept misfit, and Virgil's cousin Han, a lost soul with more brawn than brains, Ben leads a double life of mischief and petty crimes that alleviate the pressures of perfection. At the start of his high school freshman year, Ben befriends Daric, the senior valedictorian ? another archetypical overachiever and perfectionist. But Daric is somewhat odd. While being the most intelligent student in the class, he also seems to be the most volatile and dangerous. Behind his trusting and benevolent façade lies a lurking secret, a timebomb ready to explode. With Daric at the helm, this group of misfit teens bands together into a suburban gang. As their adopted identity grows, Ben and the gang tumble into a downward spiral of excitement, excess, fun and growing danger. Ben's life careens out of control, into an intoxicating mix of sex, drugs and crime, leading to a surprisingly chaotic and violent end that will leave audiences engrossed, speechless and ultimately disturbed. -- © Trailing Johnson Productions [More]

Starring: Parry Shen, Jason J. Tobin, Sung Kang, Roger Fan

Starring: Parry Shen, Jason J. Tobin, Sung Kang, Roger Fan, John Cho, Jerry Mathers, Karin Anna Cheung

Director: Justin Lin

Director: Justin Lin
Screenwriter: Ernesto M. Foronda, Justin Lin, Fabian Marquez
Producer: Julie Asato, Ernesto M. Foronda, Justin Lin
Composer: Michael J. Gonzales
Studio: MTV Films

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Release:

Sep 30, 2003

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Reviews for Better Luck Tomorrow

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41 - 60 (sorted by date)
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Most of writer-director Justin Lin's shapeless movie is as bland as the neighborhood.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
04/22/03
Jami Bernard
Jami Bernard
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

As teen angst films go, this is as good as any.

Full Review Source: San Diego Metropolitan | comment Comment
04/19/03
Jean Lowerison
Jean Lowerison
San Diego Metropolitan

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 challenging.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
04/18/03
Geoff Pevere
Geoff Pevere
Toronto Star
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

About how incredibly stupid the smartest of kids can be, which is inherently watchable.

Full Review Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel | comment Comment
04/18/03
Laura Kelly
Laura Kelly
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

While its characters are specifically Asian American ... the film really speaks to all young people, about dangerous games and their disturbingly untidy consequences.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
04/18/03
Moira MacDonald
Moira MacDonald
Seattle Times

A film that merges cocaine, Ivy League, college applications, the Asian American experience, dark comedy and high school drama while maintaining a personal tone and likable lead characters is just too impressive to knock.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
04/18/03
Kim Morgan
Kim Morgan
Oregonian

A funny, smart, fearless movie.

Full Review Source: Miami Herald | comment Comment
04/18/03
Rene Rodriguez
Rene Rodriguez
Miami Herald

Very disturbing but often enthralling.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
04/18/03
Bruce Kirkland
Bruce Kirkland
Jam! Movies

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

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
04/18/03
Bruce Westbrook
Bruce Westbrook
Houston Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The director sacrifices finesse to run around in the baggy duds of a lurid gangsta flick looking for street cred.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
04/18/03
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An impressively authentic portrait of teenagers who, given too much money and freedom by absent parents, have confused maturity with a veneer of sophistication and blase amorality.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
04/18/03
Ann Hornaday
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post

Starts out like an Asian-American version of The Breakfast Club, but quickly turns more towards Boyz N The Hood...shows what can happen when rich kids at private school and smart kids at public school get bored.

Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | comment Comment
04/18/03
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com

Starts with the right intentions but quickly unravels.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
04/18/03
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Although this movie shows Lin's promising moviemaking sensibilities, its point of view feels coldly amoral and dismissive.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
04/18/03
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Like his characters, Lin may be an overachiever and the strain of trying to do too much shows.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
04/18/03
Liam Lacey
Liam Lacey
Globe and Mail
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Mean Streets meets the chess club.

Full Review Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram | comment Comment
04/18/03
Scott Von Doviak
Scott Von Doviak
Fort Worth Star-Telegram

...Lin infuses even the most cliched aspects of the screenplay with a sense of style that's never overbearing...

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
04/18/03
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

The film really rumbles in the undercurrent of race and identity that Lin sketches in the margins of their lives...

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
04/17/03
Sean Axmaker
Sean Axmaker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Disturbing and enlightening, Better Luck Tomorrow is one of the few contemporary films guaranteed to make you think. And it won't let go.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
04/17/03
Philip Wuntch
Philip Wuntch
Dallas Morning News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A coming-of-age film that takes the cliché of wanting to be cool and gives it a very particularized spin.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
04/17/03
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
41 - 60 (sorted by date)
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Latest News for Better Luck Tomorrow

March 24, 2007: Idris Elba Flashes Back With "Prom Night" Remake
In announcing his involvement in the "Prom Night" remake, Idris Elba also revealed the new hook for this version. Instead of one slash-fest, this "Prom... More...

September 29, 2005: Third "Fast & Furious" Flick Gets a Title ... and a Few More Cast Members
Just a few days ago we learned that Bow Wow and Lucas Black would be starring in "Fast and the Furious 3," and now comes word from Variety that the sequel's official... More...

September 27, 2005: Bow Wow & Lucas Black to Headline "Fast and the Furious 3"
Hanh Nguyen of Zap2it.com brings some new casting notices for the third entry in the "Fast and the Furious" franchise, which is scheduled to begin shooting in Japan... More...

June 09, 2005: "Better Luck" Director to Helm Third "Furious" Flick
Justin Lin, director of the acclaimed indie "Better Luck Tomorrow," has been signed by Universal to direct the third entry of their "Fast and the Furious"... More...

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