Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)

This movie is non-stop entertainment. All of the main characters are likable and easy to relate to, whether or not you are of Asian descent. The direction is pitch perfect, and basically subtle. This movie starts kind of slow and seems to be just a film about bored high school kids, until they start to abuse the power they have been given and it turns into an epic crime film. This is Lin's best feature, and although Fast 4/5 were good films (FF:TD was NOT), I would like to see Lin go back to this kind of story telling. Unknown actors giving amazing performances in a realistic movie filled with action and humor...what else could you ask for? This is one of my deepest sleeper picks, and I constantly show it to people who have not seen it. The movie also does a great job of both embracing stereotypes and shattering them, simultaneously.If you have not watched this film, go do it NOW.

This movie was a big joke. High school isn't like this. It was one of the worst films I have ever seen. I caught occasional glimpses of the movie between fits of laughter, and every second I watched disappointed me further. The supposed "high school" cast looked like 30 year old men. Virgil was the only developed character in the whole film.. and all he did was annoy me and make me wanna turn the movie off. Terrible movie.Terrible Actors. Terrible premise. Don't WATCH IT

Sorry folks but there are much better teen angst movies then this tripe. How does the acting gets acclaim? They were all horrible. Maybe it was the duologue which sounded like it was written by an edgy 15 year old. And the style...don't get me started. Pick one director and rip him off well, don't pick from a ton and rip them all off poorly. I counted Scorses, Lynch, Aronofsky, and the horrible Matrix directors.Having heard good things I wanted to like this movie, but come on. This is high school direction with a middle school play script. Bad bad bad movie. Just read Less Than Zero and be done with it. A few laughs was all it was good for.

Justin Lin does a great job in displaying Asian Americans in a light that reveals that Asian Americans are no different than your average Caucasian Americans. Although it somewhat reconstructs the model minority image, it deconstructs the image that Asian Americans also participate in similar activities than their Caucasian neighbors would participate in if they had similar social milieus - that is, gang-like activities. I think Lin had something going, and towards the end, the movie lost some of its initial attraction. I think the movie could've stayed in the same direction that it was starting on, that of the SAT cramming and the trouble that they brought as well. Parry Shen does a great job as does John Cho.