Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)

April 12, 2015 9:41 PM

A group of over-achieving Asian-American high school seniors enjoy a power trip when they dip into extra-curricular criminal activities.

this is part of(?) the Fast and the Furious series.
Can You Stream It?
4 Stars from Roger Ebert, 81/79 on Rotten Tomatoes, 67 on Metacritic.

posted by the man of twists and turns (4 comments total)

Oh, boy! I own this movie and loved it when it first came out. It's been many years since I've last watched it, though, so I'll have to dig it out for some fresh thoughts!
posted by jillithd at 10:45 AM on April 13, 2015

Well, I'm intrigued.
posted by latkes at 2:16 PM on April 13, 2015

Led to one of my favourite Ebert moments - "No one would say to a bunch of white film makers, 'how can you do this to your people?'".

I love the introduction of the characters - Cho's in particular. And the way the movie is so clever with using two of the most predominant sub-genres of its era, the teen romance flick and the amateur-criminals-get-it-wrong story, and mashes them into something dark and unexpected. It also looks great (if achingly of its time) for having had a tiny budget.

Re-watched Fast 7 last night, and was struck by how Sean said of Han, 'he always said, he left his enemies in his rear view.' Interesting to see just what Han was leaving behind.
posted by Gin and Broadband at 11:25 PM on April 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

"The rumors about us came and went fast and furious." 
Heh.

You didn't expect Ben to turn out to be the murderer so that was a nice touch--as these things go. Virgil or Derrick always seemed like the expected killers. The lack of repercussions makes this a very high school film. I loved how everyone ran when Virgil flipped his gun.

Also, "so is this the I love Stephanie fan club?"
posted by Ik ben afgesneden at 10:22 PM on May 24, 2015 [1 favorite]