Ben Manibag (Parry Shen) is an overachieving perfectionist in academics and everything else to add more and varied achievements to his college applications. His longtime friend Virgil Hu (Jason Tobin) is a wild screw-up. They always follow Virgil's quietly confident cousin Han (Sung Kang) and they do petty crimes. Soon, the crimes become bigger and more dangerous. They become notorious, admired, and feared by all the students and acquaintances with their rumored connections to the mafia. Meanwhile, Ben falls for adopted Asian student Stephanie Vandergosh.

This is the beginning of an East Asian American invasion into mainstream Hollywood. Director Justin Lin would even connect this movie to the Fast & Furious franchise through Han. It includes interesting actors like John Cho. I do think that these are not the toughest guys around. It is a gated community so the kids could be naive enough to believe that they are part of the triad. Also, Justin Lin is trying out a lot of camera moves. The one that he seems to be missing is the Reservoir Dogs slow walk. He's still not pulling together everything but most of it works. Although I find Parry Shen fits this role, he's not a natural leading man type. The group is not always worth rooting for nor fearsome. It feels slightly like play-acting. More than anything, this is an opening for all this talent which would have been ignored in years past.

I watched this film because I recently interviewed Parry Shen, its star, who now plays Brad on General Hospital.

Better Luck Tomorrow is a film that probably doesn't speak very well to my generation, who are quite removed from what went on in the movie.

It's the story of Asian-American teens from affluent homes and apparently no supervision. They are what we used to call "brains" -- highly intelligent and ambitious, all concerned with getting into a top college. Everything they do -- all their volunteering, sports, after-school jobs, is geared toward having things to put on their application. High grades, Ben (Shen) the narrator points out, are no longer enough.

Ben is interviewed about affirmative action for the school newspaper by Daric (Roger Fan) and after that, Daric offers him a job writing cheat sheets for more money than he's making at the fast food place where he works. The guys -- Ben, Virgil, and Han -- steal for the fun of it, to take some pressure off of their studies, but then move on to doing drugs and selling drugs.

Ben falls for Stephanie (Karin Anna Cheung) who is the girlfriend of Steve (John Cho) who doesn't seem to treat her all that well; he doesn't like school functions so he asks Ben to take her to the formal dance. Steve approaches the gang with a burglary job, which plummets them even further downward.

I was never someone who was under the gun to get good grades; my family never put any pressure on me in that way. My emphasis was on creativity. But I can understand the tremendous stress these kids were under to be successful and their desire to blow off steam. Unfortunately, they had no supervision and no moral code. Out of control teenage hormones and rage are the result, particularly from Ben, who has held in his feelings all along.

Directed by Justin Lin, I liked the focus on Asian-Americans in the film as I think sometimes different ethnicities have trouble being cast as they should, and it's rare to have a film like this. Justin Lin does a good job of directing, speeding and slowing down the film, and giving us an ambiguous ending. I wasn't crazy about that -- yes, I'm one of those old-fashioned types that likes things tied up. The ending left me totally up in the air.

Doing the ending as he did, Lin seems to be talking about morality, guilt, non-guilt, non-justice, and the plight of teens today who don't have to answer for their actions. Maybe we just let life take care of what happens to them. Or maybe, like Crimes & Misdemeanors, nothing happens to change their life trajectory at all.

4 Asian high school friends seem to have it all, good grades, a bright future where colleges are going to be fighting over their applications and the world is their oyster. But beneath the suburban undercurrent lies a group of the most jaded Asian-American kids who get in over their head in illicit activities.

The film is narrated by Ben, a smart kid who is going about his usual run of the mill life. Eventually he is approached by Derrick a born class leader who finally mentions to him, Why are you being a second class benchwarmer on a basketball team?? When you can be your own man?

It turns out Derrick first starts asking Ben to write up cheat sheets for $50 bucks, and then with the enlistment of scrawny Virgil and his no nonsense cousin Han, the guys end up with a reputation that leads to bigger and riskier things...

The film has a great fresh style and pace to it, Justin Lin's direction is impecable. Slow motion edits, fast cuts, perfect timing with the soundtrack, good cinematography are all apparant and enjoyable and not to annoying as they sometimes can be when they are thrown at you constantly. What's probably the most telling thing about this movie is the focus on Asian-Americans in a not so seen light. All these kids have the world ahead of them, perfect grades, homes, money, but they are all dead inside and lacking direction. It doesn't help also that their parents in the film are nowhere to be seen, and no doubt non existent. All the trappings of success and great intelligence that the kids have is no match for there lack of faith and spiritual deadness which Better Luck Tomorrow shows off impecably!

Most important is the camradare these kids share and the wonderful casting that was chosen. Derick exhudes confidence and smarts like a crooked politician, Han is the cool guy doesn't say much looks like he can break your face with his intesnse stare, and Ben is the guy we follow through all his dillemas and trials with much anticipation and hope. But the best is saved for the scrawny Virgil played AMAZINGLY by Jason J Tobin.

He's the small kid who ends up a lot like the whipping post, and over compensates his rash bravado and toughness to hide his obvious weaknesses and extreme vulnerability. He is the guy you can't help smile and appreciate but also pray for knowing that he is in someway doomed cause of his lack of self esteem.

Wonderful film

Rating 9 out of 10.