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36
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35
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71
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57
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70
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56
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93
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27
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47
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56
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93
WALL-E
82
Dark Knight, The
73
Kung Fu Panda
72
Ghost Town
71
Tropic Thunder
70
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
66
Bolt
65
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
64
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
63
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, The
63
Burn After Reading
61
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
60
Traitor
59
Role Models
58
Express, The
58
Quantum of Solace
58
City of Ember
57
Secret Life of Bees, The
57
Body of Lies
57
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
57
High School Musical 3: Senior Year
57
Twilight
57
Flash of Genius
56
W.
56
Zack and Miri Make a Porno
55
House Bunny, The
54
Get Smart
53
Quarantine
53
Rocker, The
53
Lucky Ones, The
52
Longshots, The
51
Mamma Mia!
49
Sex Drive
49
Family That Preys, The
49
Soul Men
47
Swing Vote
47
X-Files: I Want to Believe, The
46
Lakeview Terrace
45
Blindness
45
Pride and Glory
43
Eagle Eye
43
Meet Dave
43
Death Race
41
Beverly Hills Chihuahua
39
Nights in Rodanthe
37
Miracle at St. Anna
36
Space Chimps
36
Righteous Kill
36
Fly Me to the Moon
35
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
35
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
35
Mirrors
34
My Best Friend's Girl
31
Max Payne
28
Haunting of Molly Hartley. The
27
Women, The
26
Babylon A.D.
24
Bangkok Dangerous
20
American Carol, An
19
Saw V
15
Disaster Movie
15
College
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

xx
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53
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57
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68
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62
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84
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54
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xx
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75
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xx
Billy: The Early Years
66
Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story
56
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55
Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The
50
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61
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43
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62
Changeling
49
Children of Huang Shi, The
47
Choke
46
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84
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41
Cthulhu
81
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xx
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62
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44
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63
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xx
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66
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46
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80
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26
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69
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26
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28
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52
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67
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37
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69
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82
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43
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73
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73
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84
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40
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64
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78
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63
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41
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63
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27
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78
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81
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63
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89
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xx
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62
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51
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79
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59
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73
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40
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34
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40
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xx
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55
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75
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77
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82
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56
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32
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53
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56
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74
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45
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57
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84
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52
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58
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79
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67
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82
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57
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72
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83
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43
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61
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84
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52
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79
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61
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59
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55
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66
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89
Man on Wire
84
Slumdog Millionaire
84
Christmas Tale, A
84
Up the Yangtze
84
Ballast
84
Momma's Man
84
Happy-Go-Lucky
83
Trouble the Water
83
U2 3D
82
Tell No One
82
Frozen River
82
Rachel Getting Married
81
Let the Right One In
81
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
80
Encounters at the End of the World
79
Stranded: I Have Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains
79
Moving Midway
79
Visitor, The
78
I've Loved You So Long
78
Last Mistress, The
77
Pray the Devil Back to Hell
75
Pool, The
75
Betrayal - Nerakhoon, The
74
Secret, A
73
Girl Cut in Two, A
73
Obscene
73
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
72
Transsiberian
72
I Served the King of England
70
I.O.U.S. A
69
Ashes of Time Redux
69
Frontrunners
69
Fear(s) of the Dark
68
August Evening
67
Synecdoche, New York
67
Flow: For Love of Water
66
Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story
66
Elegy
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
64
Thousand Years of Good Prayers, A
64
Fall, The
64
Appaloosa
64
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
63
JCVD
63
Eden
63
Man Named Pearl, A
63
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
62
Changeling
62
Kabluey
62
Duchess, The
62
Mister Foe
62
Baghead
61
Wackness, The
61
Brick Lane
61
Universe of Keith Haring
59
Nights and Weekends
59
We Are Wizards
58
Splinter
57
Towelhead
57
Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela, The
57
Sixty Six
56
Save Me
56
Religulous
56
Bottle Shock
55
Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The
55
What Just Happened?
55
Ping Pong Playa
54
Humboldt County
54
Battle in Seattle
54
Good Dick
53
RocknRolla
53
Allah Made Me Funny: Live in Concert
52
First Basket, The
52
Virtual JFK: Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived
52
Special
51
Morning Light
50
Breakfast with Scot
49
Children of Huang Shi, The
47
How About You
47
Choke
46
Choose Connor
46
Elephant King, The
45
Shoot on Sight
44
Henry Poole is Here
44
Dukes, The
43
Call and Response
43
Tru Loved
43
Gardens of the Night
41
Johnny Got His Gun
41
Cthulhu
40
Igor
40
Other End of the Line, The
40
Passengers
37
Forever Strong
34
Otto; or Up with Dead People
33
My Name Is Bruce
32
Repo! The Genetic Opera
31
Hounddog
30
Guitar, The
28
Fireproof
27
House of the Sleeping Beauties
27
Lake City
26
Everybody Wants to Be Italian
26
Filth and Wisdom
xx
Dostana
xx
Phoebe in Wonderland
xx
All of Us
xx
Matador, The
xx
Billy: The Early Years
xx
Roadside Romeo
xx
B.O.H.I.C.A.
xx
Eden Lake
xx
Just Buried
xx
Beer for My Horses
xx
Mary
xx
Lower Learning
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Better Luck Tomorrow
Paramount Pictures / MTV Films
FILM:
MPAA RATING: R for violence, drug use, language and sexuality
Starring
Parry Shen,
Jason J. Tobin,
Sung Kang,
Roger Fan,
John Cho,
Karin Anna Cheung,
Jerry Mathers, Aaron Takahashi,
and
Beverly Sotelo
The story of a group of overachieving Asian-American high school honor students in a conservative Los Angeles suburb who lead a double life of mischief and petty crimes that alleviate the pressures of perfection. (Paramount)
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Ernesto Foronda
Justin Lin
Fabian Marquez
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Justin Lin
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: September 30, 2003
Video: September 30, 2003
Theatrical: April 11, 2003
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
98 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |
Nominated, Grand Jury Prize, 2002 Sundance Film Festival

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
Not just a thriller, not just a social commentary, not just a comedy or a romance, but all of those in a clearly seen, brilliantly made film.

100
San Francisco Chronicle
C.W. Nevius
In some ways, this is "The Graduate" gone to "Lord of the Flies."

88
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
Typically, movies aimed at teenage audiences have little concern for things like intelligent scripts, credible characters, and meaningful dialogue. Better Luck Tomorrow contains all three, making it a hugely rewarding experience.

88
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
Lin is a talent to watch. There's a sting to this film that gets to you.

83
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sean Axmaker
Lin energizes the grungy palette with stylistic zing, a hopped-up pace and understated humor. His cast carves out vivid characters and the open-ended aftermath takes stock of the moral scarring without moralizing.

80
Washington Post
Ann Hornaday
An exhilarating ride.

80
Los Angeles Times
Manohla Dargis
It has the virtue of Lin's tangy wit but it also suffers from the vice of a director who, torn between personal vision and wide public reach, tends to smother his ideas under a veneer of cool.

80
Variety
Todd McCarthy
Lin's nicely turned out picture is sometimes both predictable and a bit far-fetched narratively, but still provides a generally absorbing look at a slice of society normally taken for granted, both in life and onscreen.

80
Wall Street Journal
Joe Morgenstern
Breathes new life into a familiar story: coming of age in high school.
80
The New York Times
A.O. Scott
Mr. Lin makes the anxious grasping of these kids for some kind of emotional turf -- their own need to shatter the stereotypes that bind them -- the heart of Better Luck Tomorrow, a scenario that keeps the movie's blood racing.

75
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
Lin works with a rhythmic observational flair that outweighs the movie's flaws. It's a long way from Long Duk Dong.

75
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
Has a vitality and novelty rare in any youth movie, let alone one that claps fresh eyes on a cliched vision of a model minority.

75
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
What helps Lin's feature-directing debut is his insight into the dark side of living up to "model minority" stereotypes in a materialistic culture.

75
Miami Herald
Rene Rodriguez
The same premise could have been turned into a satirical comedy, but Better Luck Tomorrow opts for a more corrosive, challenging route, one whose troubling, morally ambiguous ending offers no easy resolution.

75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
"Rebel Without a Cause" with a debate club, Better Luck Tomorrow is a sharp, smart slice of suburban angst among the high school overachiever set.

75
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
Bracing and stylish thriller.

75
USA Today
Claudia Puig
Well-crafted, Tarantino-esque story.

70
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
Although this movie shows Lin's promising moviemaking sensibilities, its point of view feels coldly amoral and dismissive.

70
Film Threat
Merle Bertrand
A rare high school dramedy with some heft to it. Smartly photographed and edited, it manages to walk the difficult tightrope strung between the typically loopy coming of age film and a simmering disaster in the making.

70
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
The performances are strong without calling attention to themselves--which is more than I can say for the occasionally hackneyed use of rock on the sound track.

67
Portland Oregonian
Kim Morgan
A film that merges cocaine, Ivy League, college applications, the Asian American experience, dark comedy and high school drama while maintaining a personal tone and likable lead characters is just too impressive to knock.

63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Liam Lacey
Like his characters, Lin may be an overachiever and the strain of trying to do too much shows. He merges genres the way Ben juggles extracurricular activities.

63
Charlotte Observer
Lawrence Toppman
Good idea for a movie about rebellious Asian Americans doesn't fully pan out.

60
Salon.com
Charles Taylor
Follows a consistently predictable arc. In some sequences, you can tell not just what's going to happen next, but what shot is coming next. And the movie's weird mixture of moralism and affectlessness cancel each other out.

60
LA Weekly
John Powers
Though it doesn't fully transcend its small budget (the lighting is dingy), the story feels rooted in something more solid than prefab posturing.

60
Dallas Observer
Robert Wilonsky
It almost plays like a darkly comic "Peanuts" special.

50
New York Daily News
Jami Bernard
The crime isn't that the movie's message is amoral, but that it goes totally unexamined, as if the recess bell rang too early.

50
Village Voice
Ed Park
Seeing BLT has been positioned as a political act. Alas: The film in question seems hardly worth the fuss.

50
Chicago Tribune
Patrick Z. McGavin
The film lacks a single emotionally authentic moment.

50
TV Guide
Ken Fox
The end result is a series of stylish vignettes, some entertaining and all variations on essentially the same theme.

40
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Scott Tobias
Perhaps the worst thing that could be said about Better Luck Tomorrow is that, on a slow night, it's easy to imagine these delinquents wanting to rent a film just like it.

40
Austin Chronicle
Marc Savlov
uUltimately Better Luck Tomorrow feels nearly as hollow and unknowable as its characters hearts.


The average user rating for this movie is 7.4 (out of 10) based on 27 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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