Better Luck Tomorrow (2002) on Netflix
Ben Manibag wants top grades, a basketball spot and Stephanie Vandergosh. He, Virgil Hu and Han Lue commit petty crimes, and Daric Loo draws them into a school cheating operation.
- Netflix3.8/5
- IMDb7.0/1011,084 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes81%
Trailer
Plot summary
Ben Manibag is a high school junior in an Orange County suburb who sets three goals for the year: make the basketball team, date Stephanie Vandergosh, and earn grades for an Ivy League university. His drive hides a second life. With his best friend Virgil Hu and Virgil's older cousin Han Lue, he toilet-papers houses and commits petty crimes. Daric Loo, the senior valedictorian and Academic Decathlon leader, brings Ben into a cheating operation. Daric pays a student named Jesus to steal tests, and Ben turns them into cheat sheets sold to classmates. Virgil and Han join in. Ben makes the team but sits on the bench. He also competes with Steve Choe, Stephanie's private-school boyfriend, for her attention, and Steve offers to let Ben take her to the Winter Formal.
Cast
- James Isaac Barryas Porn Jock
- Shirley Jean Andersonas Hot Dog Planet Costumer
Show all 14 cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- When Justin Lin ran out of money, MC Hammer wired $10,000 into a bank account two hours after Lin called him in desperation, saving the production; Hammer is credited as a producer of the film.
- The plot draws on the 1992 murder of Stuart Tay, a 17-year-old Chinese American high school student in Orange County, California, killed by peers after a failed petty crime scheme; the media called the case "the Honor Roll Murder."
- Justin Lin's original investors wanted a white cast with Macaulay Culkin as the male lead in exchange for a million-dollar investment; Lin objected and funded the film himself with his 10 credit cards and life savings.
- After an audience member asked director Justin Lin at a festival Q&A if it was irresponsible to portray Asian-Americans negatively, Roger Ebert stood up to defend the film; Ebert's approval drew major studios' attention and led to MTV buying it for distribution.
- Better Luck Tomorrow became the first film acquired by MTV Films, which worked with Paramount Pictures to release it theatrically in the United States.
- Better Luck Tomorrow originated the character Han Lue, played by Sung Kang, who later featured prominently in the Fast & Furious film series.
- Actor Sung Kang had originally wanted to play the lead role of Ben Manibag in Better Luck Tomorrow.
