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| Better Luck Tomorrow |
| Genre |
Drama |
| Director/ Writer |
Justin Lin |
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“Better Luck Tomorrow” is a fascinating independent film that marks the emergence of a great talent in writer, director Justin Lin. It’s a coming of age film involving murder, drug dealing and prostitution. Yet nothing in the carefully constructed film is there for shock value. It’s also one of the only films I can think of with an all Asian cast that doesn’t center around Kung Fu.
The film is set in a placid Orange County wonderland of gated communities, immaculately appointed lawns and extreme economic privilege. Ben (Parry Shen) belongs to a group of overachieving Asian-American students who conform to the popular image of smart, well-behaved kids. They’re young and ambitious but lack any kind of morals. They’re like a gang of Asian Patrick Batemans.
Ripping off the local computer store is just another after- school project. So is selling cheat sheets and drugs. It's too easy. They're too smart for everyone else, too clever to get caught, and no one suspects a thing. That's the problem. With no one to stop them, they get in way over their heads. How deep is suggested by the film's opening scene, where Ben and his best friend, Virgil (Jason Tobin), are interrupted while sunbathing by the sound of a cell phone ringing on a body they have buried in the backyard.
Like Larry Clark, the director of "Kids" and "Bully," Lin’s movie seems to glorify extreme behavior as an act of romantic rebellion. Clark’s films deal with delinquent, lower class families whose parents neglect them because they have simply given up on them. In “Better Luck Tomorrow” the parents trust their hyper-achieving kids based on their academic records. So does everyone else, a fact that leads the youngsters to believe their grades free them from the normal rules of society.
Justin Lin, who directed, co-wrote and co-produced, reveals himself as a skilled and sure director, a rising star. His film looks as glossy and expensive as a medium budget studio production, but amazingly, Lin made it for $250,000, which he raised by selling everything he owned and maxing out 10 credit cards. It was an instant hit on the film-festival circuit, and became the first independent production to be distributed by MTV Films.
There isn't a parent to be seen anywhere, which explains their uncontrolled freedom, but makes you wonder where they inherited the social self-image they live within and rebel against. The incidents of asocial behavior accumulate and play off each other, though Lin never creates any meaningful context for the group's alienation. The story is left open ended which is slightly unsatisfying. But it is a rare film that can both shock you and make you laugh.
BOTTOM LINE: “Better luck Tomorrow, is an original and fascinating story about the freedoms of youth and the illusions we hide behind. One of years best. (B+ A-) |
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| "We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide, then question the manner in which I provide it." |
- Jack Nicholson
A Few Good Men
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Distributed Beers
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| 5 |
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot |
| 4 |
Guinness Draught |
| 3 |
Newcastle Brown Ale |
| 2 |
Bass Pale Ale |
| 1 |
Samuel Adams Boston Lager |
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