Better Luck Tomorrow

Im somewhat in a quandary after watching this film. It is the story of four bright overachieving students who cross ethical and legal societal boundaries. The gripping and powerful thing about the film is its casual brutality and frightening reality. It is appropriately rated R. These are promising seniors with top grades in the best school. It is reminiscent in a horrible way of the famed Leopold and Loeb episode of 1924.

But the storyline has problems. A structural difficulty with the plot is created in part by the fact that there is no initial problem/conflict that we know about. It might be intense pressure from parents for achievement, but we dont know because there are no parents in this film. The characters create their own problem apparently for entertainment. The screenwriter fixed this lack of an initial problem in the plot by using a flashback. I found the foreknowledge of the ending a distraction and it diluted the storys emotional force. The plot does have rising action as the groups behavior escalates from ethical to criminal. However there is no real resolution after the climax (that we already know about) so I found the ending weak.

Regardless, the spirit of the film impressed me. The frame switching, music selections and hallway scenes defined the jungle social environment of high school. Its main characters are all Asian although the film is color blind. The camera is used in unique ways. For example, it sees the protagonist pondering a decision by rotating through four quadrant shots. The protagonist memorizes word definitions for achievement and the words are coupled to the plot progression: punctilious, temerity, quixotic, temperance, catharsis, inextricable.

The film is a wake up call that things may not be what they seem for the good student seniors at any local high school. Ironically, one of the characters attempts to arrange an unpleasant wake up call for his parents, a possible metaphor for the films message. The warning is definitely scary.

The actors are all unknowns with no more than five years of experience. Parry Shen plays Ben, the protagonist and narrator. This is his fifth role in as many years. Jason Tobin plays Virgil, Bens buddy. Sung Kang plays Han, Virgils cousin. Roger Fan plays Daric, the last to join and a pseudo leader of the group. Justin Lin directed the film and it is his second time directing.

This was a very low budget effort. Shen at age 30 may be the oldest, but they all looked too old to be in high school. Many so-called high school films have this problem.

Reviewed November 5, 2003