*WARNING:POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD (ACTUALLY, DEFINITE SPOILERS, SO WATCH OUT)

I suppose the topic of race should be brought up first and foremost. Yes, the main characters are Asian American, but the movie itself is NOT about BEING Asian American. The issue of race is irrelevant in this film, and that's one of the points the director and the actors are trying to make: that Asians are the same as any other nationality. It seems to bother some people that the race of the movie's characters is inter-changeable, but that just proves how universal the message of this film is.

"Better Luck Tomorrow" follows the lives of 6 Asian American teens living in suburbia: Ben, the narrator, is the over-achieving nice guy pining after Stephanie, the cheerleader with a brain, who dates Steve, the prep school rich boy. Included are Ben's friends: Daric, the slimy yet slick mastermind; Virgil, the deeply insecure goof ball with a knack for screwing things up and a penchant for porn; and Han, the "muscle" who takes pleasure in kicking his cousin Virgil's ass despite caring about him at the same time, in a tough guy kind of way.

Each character has a bright future ahead of them in Ivy League colleges around the nation, yet they're unsatisfied with what life has to offer. That's when Daric introduces Ben, Virgil, and Han to the world of petty crimes. The foursome begin distributing copy sheets to the student body, making $50 a pop and acquiring more money than they know what to do with. Soon the group find themselve delving deeper into the crime business, ripping off computer parts from the school and dealing drugs. It's no surprise that they soon find themselve in over their head.

I don't want to dwell any longer on the plot, if you've seen it you know it and if you haven't, well obvously you haven't heeded my spoilers warning. After watching this film, the first thing that ran through my mind was, "What the f*** was that??" At first I didn't like it much to tell the truth, only becaust i didn't immediately understand its message, but as i replayed multiple scenes in my head I realized how good this movie actually was. I haven't seen such a realistic portrayal of high school life in a long time. In Ben, Daric, Virgil and Han I saw my own friends and people at my school: the pressure to succeed in school at any cost (for example, Ben's coccaine habit that gives him the stamina needed to finish copy sheets and the homework from each of his honors classes, which in fact is not completely unrealistic seeing as some top students at my school are known to dabble in drugs to keep up with they're hectic schedules), the desperation, the insecurity, the supression of emotions to the point of bursting irrationally and inexplicably, and the overall feeling of unsatisfaction with one's life despite the commendable academic acheivements meant only to impress colleges. Growing up in an environment similar to that portrayed in the film, I felt like i was watching my classmates up there on the screen. It disturbed me to no end.

I feel like this movie has so much to offer, despite some glaring pitfalls. I didn't think Ben's character was extremely effective. Perry Shen's acting consisted of looking around a lot and blinking innocently while making puppy dog eyes at Stephanie once in a while. I understood the fact that he didn't like Steve, but when he actually picked up that baseball bat and KILLED him, I was completely suprised. I don't know, my friends explained to me it was Ben's supression of so many different emotions the led to the sudden violent outburst, but I just didn't see it. Maybe I'm blind, I don't know. But that's the only thing that bothered me the most. But other supurbly executed scenes canceled my dislikes for the most part. The scene where Daric and Virgil finalize Steve's death by suffocating him with alchohol is truly chilling and emotionally wrenching; I actually covered my eyes for part of the time, it was that effective. I liked the ending, despite the creepiness of Ben interacting so normally with Stephanie after killing her boyfriend only moments before. It just mirrors the fact that real life isn't so neat and tidy, justice isn't always served, even if you or I don't like it. The moral ambiguity of the film exemplifies this; morality is subjective, and that's the bottom line.

As for the message of this film, there are so many different things you take away from it. Power corrupts; money corrupts; the moral condition of human nature; the power of guilt; etc. I also saw a general commentary on today's youth, how we throw ourselves into making our existance fit into a college resume, ignoring personal fulfillment in favor of getting that extra activity onto our resumes. It desensitizes you, makes you numb to experiencing life and finding who you really are. It sickens me what people will do to get even the slightest edge over another person for the sake of college or whatnot. People have forgotten what it means to fulfill they're own dreams before fulfilling the expectations of their parents and society, and they've overlooked the fact of how dangerous it can all end up to be.

Let me start of by saying that it's very refreshing to see an American movie starring Asian American actors. There simply isn't a enough of this.

Better Luck Tomorrow is another solid independent movie that is somewhat derailed or should I say lowered by the un conclusive ending. I think it was ironic that it was Ben committed such a violent act. I thought it would of been Virgil or Han. I'm not really sure that I bought into the fact that his character was capable of that as he hadn't shown any violent tendencies previously in the film. His character was pretty calm, and low key. Anyway, the film has very good acting performances from relative unknowns. I was enchanted with the actress that plays Stephanie. This was apparently her introducing role, and I think she has a bright future. The actor that played Ben was very good as well. In all, a very good film. I really liked the direction of Mr. Lin. He's one to watch. By far, the best movie that MTV films has been associated with.

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.