It was my second semester, freshman year in college, and the Asian Pacific American community was buzzing about a movie being shown at a theater off campus. I went to school in the middle of nowhere, so car pools were assigned and we went en masse to see this movie I had heard little about. A couple years later, they screened the movie on campus and several of the stars were there in person. I excitedly went and had them sign my DVD, a disc containing my favorite flick. This year, Better Luck Tomorrow celebrates its tenth anniversary since debuting at the annual Sundance Film Festival which just ended this past weekend.
Better Luck Tomorrow (BLT) is loosely based on a true story about a group of overachieving Asian American high school students whose lives take downward spirals once they realize what they can get away with under the guise of being studious teenagers. Thanks to surprise funding from MC Hammer, director/producer/writer Justin Lin was able to finish his project. The film was a hit and gained a rave review from renowned critic Roger Ebert, which eventually led to MTV films giving BLT national distribution.
The movie was one of John Cho's earlier roles, at a time when he was just known as the MILF guy from American Pie. Side note: in his film Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (another great movie that destroys Asian stereotypes), one of the antagonists early in the film yells at Cho, “Better luck tomorrow!” after stealing his parking spot. BLT was also the breakthrough movie for Lin, who has directed the last three Fast and the Furious films as well as the acclaimed “Modern Warfare” episode of “Community” (which happens to be my current favorite TV show).
I really enjoyed Better Luck Tomorrow, and not just because it was a major motion film with a primarily Asian cast that didn't involve martial arts, nor was it because of Karin Anna Cheung. I actually saw a bit of myself in the main characters. I was a bit of an overachiever back in high school, and along with my friends we managed to get away with things that most other students wouldn't have. While we didn't go as far as Ben and his gang did, I found it refreshing to see that that the Asian kid who people would copy off of could have a mean – no, evil streak.
It was my senior year in high school when my family drove up to see the first ever film in the United States to feature a Pilipino cast and a very Pilipino-American storyline. And while I love The Debut, it's cringing to watch it now. Heck, it was painful to watch it in theaters in 2002 – everything from the slang to the clothing was just so dated already . It's complete camp, and while it was awesome to see singkil (a traditional Pilipino dance) on the big screen, it was a basic clash of cultures story. Better Luck Tomorrow is a complex unearthing of a culture that some people are ashamed to admit exists, but that smakes it all the more important. I don't know if I could call it timeless just yet, but it's certainly held the title of my favorite movie for almost ten years now.
