Better Luck Tomorrow, 2002, Director Justin Lin
Parry Shen as Ben Manibag
Jason Tobin as Virgil Hu
Sung Kang as Han
Roger Fan as Daric Loo
John Cho as Steve Choe
Karin Anna Cheung as Stephanie
Questions for Discussion and Further Thought:
How realistic is this portrayal of affluent teenagers? How realistic is the portrayal of Asian
Americans?
The parents are obviously entirely absent, as in most of the teen films. How does the onscreen
absence of parents function in this film?
Describe the device of the vocabulary words. How are they used to comment on the action?
What motivates Ben and his friends? Is Ben’s voice-over narration about the lust of power and
intrigue convincing or not?
Why does Daric publish the story about Ben in the school newspaper? What is the wider
political point Justin Lin might be trying to make by including that plotline?
The ending is intentionally open-ended. What do you think happens in the end?
Is this story inherently Southern Californian? Why or why not? What aspects of the mise-enscene are strictly Californian?
Compare and contrast the group of four friends with other groups of teenagers you’ve seen in
teen-themed films. (Prominent examples include Blackboard Jungle, American Graffiti, Rebel
without a Cause, etc.)
What do you think of the role of “the girlfriend”? What do you think of Stephanie’s selfassertion that she is smart? What do you think of the fact that the young men seem to desire a
smart young woman?
What does the scene with the prostitute demonstrate about male bonding in the film? How
would you characterize the friendships among Ben, Virgil, Han and Daric?
Comment on the representation of violence.
How does the film represent the theme of leadership?