Better Luck Tomorrow (2002) Review

A year after being snapped up at Sundance by MTV Films, Justin Lin's low-budget teen drama finally hits theaters with some of Hollywood's most experienced young Asian American actors in tow.

Although Better Luck Tomorrow was inspired by director Justin Lin's desire while at UCLA to take the conventional boy-meets-girl plot structure of American Pie and infuse it with politics, morality and social commentary, the film is more akin to the wave of angst-ridden teen dramas that came out of Hollywood in the 1980s.

In films such as Over The Edge, The Outsiders, River's Edge and even Heathers, Hollywood sought to address the burgeoning worlds of suburbia with tales of bored teenagers whose attempts at rebellion were always misguided and often catastrophic.

Twenty years later, the five Asian American male high school seniors at the center of Better Luck Tomorrow realize that as long as they adhere to the stereotype of overachieving straight A students, they will be left entirely to their own devices by their parents, who for symbolic as well as perhaps budgetary reasons are never once shown in the movie.

John Cho and Karin Anna Cheung in Better Luck Tomorrow (2002) (Courtesy of IMDB)

While leading man Parry Shen lacks the on screen charisma of his generational predecessors Matt Dillon, Keanu Reeves and Christian Slater, he offers up an earnest performance as Ben, the quiet student who is gradually undone by his unrequited love for cheerleader Stephanie (Karin Anna Cheung) and conflicted feelings towards her wealthy boyfriend Steve (John Cho).

It is Cho and the rest of Shen's supporting cast of real life L.A. actor friends - Jason Tobin, Sung Kang and Roger Fan - who provide the movie with its acting swagger. Beginning with a relatively innocent scheme of selling completed assignments to fellow students, Ben and his three cohorts soon find themselves involved in increasingly dangerous and elaborate schemes, culminating with a plan to rob a hilltop mansion.

Although Better Luck Tomorrow easily outshines Yellow, another recent independent film about Asian American L.A. teens that also starred Cho, its bolder themes and naked ambition heighten the sense of disappointment towards the film's end when it fails to deliver on its initial promise.

The breakdown of the third act, beginning with a pivotal turn of events that rings false and ending with an unnecessarily open ended finale, is due not so much to a weakness of the script as it is perhaps to the director's limited filmmaking experience.

Jason Tobin in Better Luck Tomorrow (2002) (Courtesy of IMDB)

Lin has the basic ingredients for a good film down pat, from a sure hand with his young actors to a crisp and clear look that belies the film's low budget. But a little bit more USC film school technique and a little bit less of the theoretical expertise that is UCLA's purview might have better served the film's final exclamation points.

There is also a notable absence of music from Better Luck Tomorrow, which most likely was beyond the filmmakers' control. Say what you will about Hollywood, there's no denying how handy a generous music rights clearance budget and staff can be in helping set the mood for an atmospheric teen drama.

Interestingly enough, when Parry Shen was growing up in the Bronx, he, like the character he plays in Better Luck Tomorrow, used to sell completed schoolwork to other students for a cash fee. But in his case, if a teacher came back with a mark of B minus or less for the counterfeited submission, money would be refunded no questions asked.

Although Better Luck Tomorrow manages to earn a grade that surpasses Shen's former real life money back guarantee threshold, with so much seen to be riding on Hollywood's latest pick-up of an ethnocentric drama, one wishes that the final mark could have been an 'A' instead of a 'B.'

Still, if you liked last year's Orange County, which starred Tom Hanks' son Colin as a disaffected youth whose dreams of attending Stanford University are undone by the incompetent actions of a guidance counselor, chances are you will also enjoy this energetic and potent entry from another side of the tracks.