Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

ecbarth This story is a very true character study that I can attest to of the freedom that everyone grants you when you maintain a scholarly and overachieving front, maybe not as to the extremes of the murder as shown in this movie but still very real. This shows the lesser characterized side of intellect, how you use it when your bored and you realize you can outsmart everyone around you and expand into drugs, scams, etc. Operate with impunity and because your keeping grades and appearances up no one suspects a thing. I'm not saying its true for everyone but this movie is a very real look when your bored, stuck in suburbia , and decide to make the rash jump into more "interesting" pursuits and figure your smart enough to get away with.The film itself never leaves you bored even though its not flashy. The characters themselves are very believable and conceited in their own greatness. The story is well paced and shows the gradual progression into the dark underbelly when temptations meet brains that think they are beyond limitation. And despite what others try to slap on as a detractor to this film, race really doesn't have anything to do with it, its just the group of kids portrayed in the film. Their grades, immorality and decisions they make have nothing to do with race

poe426 I was genuinely surprised by the director's savvy: BETTER LUCK TOMORROW is about as impressive as it gets. Not to take anything away from the players (who, to a man, are excellent), but the cinemaskill here is top of the line. At no point in the proceedings did I opt to nod off or to check my watch or hit pause and go stretch my legs: I was too caught up in what was going on on screen. I'm sure it could be argued that the ending was telegraphed (especially when one takes into account the opening scene), but it seemed, somehow, to catch me completely by surprise. My favorite line comes when someone observes that "all of the Asian kids" are at the pivotal party. "The library was closed," one of the leads responds. Superb job all around.

Desertman84 This movie is about Asian teen-agers growing up in America,particularly in California,who breaks all stereotypes of being "nerdy",industrious and overachievers.They can always have the tendency to become amoral when growing up without family influence and people whose values may lead them to criminal paths as they become influenced by a American society marked by crass materialism which makes the amount of money that one possess as the marker for success.The movie has Ben Manibag as the main character.He is an Asian that obviously comes from a family of suburban affluence.He achieves good grades,a junior varsity basketball team member who has the ability to play and a food drive worker of the school - credentials and qualities which makes him locked in any Ivy league school for College such as Stanford,Princeton and Harvard.He is a typical stereotype of what Asians growing up in the United States are all about.But as the movie progresses,we later find out that he lives a life that is characterized far from being a model Asian by selling cheat sheets to other students,losing his virginity by hiring a prostitute,stealing,selling drugs,indulging into pornography and committing murder.He breaks away from what Asians are perceived to be.It is explained in the movie that somehow these kids are affected by an American society that somehow lacks guidance from parents who work too hard to obtain material progress which in turn neglect their children and by a group of Asian friends who have somehow been influenced by the ill effects of an industrial and modern society marked by lack of morality and guidance from adults.The movie is a dark film that includes a comedy and romance.It was well-directed by newcomer Justin Lin.Also,it is well-acted by English speaking and talented Asian-American actors.Despite of criticisms by some people of the Asian community,I highly recommend this film for sends the viewer a message of what lack of moral guidance can do even to a group of people like Asians who are perceived to have good qualities such as industry and ambition.It is a must see not only for Asians in the United States but for everyone who loves good film alike.

rbritton I had been wanting to rent this movie for a while now, ever since I read an article about it in "Entertainment Magazine". That article piqued my curiosity about this film. Since I am African-American I know how we see ourselves in society but I wanted to see how Asians (especially young Asians) view themselves in this society. The amazing part about the film was as long as these teens grades were good no one suspected them of committing any crimes plus the fact that their demeanor at school was so laid back and normal. Unfortunately that is also the eerie part about this movie because those kids could be your own next door neighbors or friends of your own kids and you would never suspect them of such crimes. Also the fact that out of all the character's "dark sides", Ben (the most unlikely one) had the "DARKEST SIDE OF ALL". I think it was a piece of symbolism to say that when he lost his virginity that all his inhibitions were released to the point that he would do just about anything which led to his ultimate act of violence. It was quite disturbing to see Han trying to comfort Virgil as they were finishing off killing Steve and then to have the guilt weigh so heavy on Virgil to where he attempted suicide. It seems as though Virgil and Ben mentally switched places. I was explaining to my daughter the fact of what happens sometimes when people are too smart for their own good--you get bored and your "idle mind becomes the devil's workshop". These kids were striving and pushing themselves towards perfection but what they did not realize was "perfection (or near perfection) comes with a price".