Home / Better Luck Tomorrow

Better Luck Tomorrow

Year:

2003

Duration:

101 min | USA:98 min (2003 version)

Genres:

Crime | Drama

IMDB rate:

7.2

Director:

Justin Lin

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Details

Country: USA

Release Date: 2003-04-25

Filming Locations: Alhambra, California, USA

Earnings

Budget: $250,000

Opening Weekend: $360,772 (USA) (13 April 2003)

Gross: $3,799,339 (USA) (22 June 2003)

Cast

Actor

Character

Parry Shen

Better Luck Tomorrow

Jason Tobin

Virgil Hu

Shirley Anderson

Hot Dog Planet Customer

Nanette Matoba

Housewife

Kenji Matoba

Toddler

Sung Kang

Han

Ashley Arai

Cheerleader

Danielle Conner

Cheerleader

Karen DiTota

Cheerleader

Smita Satiani

Cheerleader

Kristen Stinson

Cheerleader

Jeff DeJohn

Ryan

Robert Zepeda

Jock

Collin Kahey

Jock

Christopher J. Francis

Jock

Jimmy Lin

Jock

Ryan Cadiz

Jesus Navarro

Karin Anna Cheung

Stephanie Vandergosh

Roger Fan

Daric Loo

Jerry Mathers

Biology Teacher

Jessie S. Marion

Gina Nabham

A.J. Green

Mr. Farmer

Jaime Serene Kelly

Nurse (as Jaime S. Kelly)

Esther Mercado

Hospital Patient (as Esther 'Tita' Mercado)

Octavia Osby

Doctor

Beverly Sotelo

Cashier

Scott McShane

Cashier

Brandon Bain

Basketball Player

Jesse Bustos

Basketball Player

Troy Cartwright

Basketball Player

Brandon Dennis

Basketball Player

Ronald Dross

Basketball Player

Christopher R. Edmonds

Basketball Player

Jon Paul Lourenco

Basketball Player

Anthony Moore

Basketball Player

Jason Reyes

Basketball Player

Dominique Ricks

Basketball Player

Khalil Semaan

Basketball Player

Jonathan Uyloan

Basketball Player

Terry White

Basketball Player

Chad Young

Basketball Player

Kenwood Jung

Basketball Coach

Jeff Russell

Assistant Basketball Coach

John Cho

Steve Choe

Aaron Takahashi

Takashi

Darian Weiss

Kenny Vandergosh

Alden Ray

Ulden (as Alden Villaverde)

Emmie Hsu

Miriam

Lily Hu

Tina

Donna Tina Charles

Waitress

Crystal Keith

Karen

Laura Esposito

Camille

Juliet Wong

Mary

Justin Murphy

Adam / New Year's Party Band

James Isaac Barry

Porn Jock

Wayne Ford

Student Buying Cheat Stamp

Kevin Alfoldy

Steve's Decathlon Team Member

Daniel R. Bonneau

Steve's Decathlon Team Member

Lisa Grant

Steve's Decathlon Team Member

David Laurence

Steve's Decathlon Team Member

Nate Petre

Steve's Decathlon Team Member

Ramona T. Ramirez

Steve's Decathlon Team Member

Stephanie Little

Steve's Barbie (as Stephanie Noel Little)

Tom Chalmers

Liquor Store Clerk

Bryan Baluyot

Gangster

Mark Baluyot

Gangster

Joseph Jaldon

Gangster

Marc Montecillo

Gangster

Joe Hernandez-Kolski

Scared Student

Jay Green

Assistant Vice Principal

Denise Barnard

Assistant Vice Principal

Bruno Oliver

History Teacher

Fabian Marquez

Security Guard

Walter Butler

Peter

Christopher Monjoy

Student Buying Drugs

Ina Burke

Tracy

Jennifer Wu

Ben's Admirer (as Jennifer Avelyn Wu)

Pauline Kanako Kamiyama

Party Girl

Lela Lee

Slapper

Evan Leong

Slapper's Boyfriend

Suzanne Keilly

Salesgirl

Shane Kualapai

Casino Security Guard

Ariadne Shaffer

Rachel

Sean Alexander

New Year's Party Band

Joey Barro

New Year's Party Band

Ben Donaldson

New Year's Party Band

Walker Edmondson

New Year's Party Band

Chris Good

New Year's Party Band

Diana Bonilla

New Year's Party Flirt

Ronnie Gene Blevins

Skinhead (uncredited)

Patrick Chavis

Student (uncredited)

Rick Cortes

Extra (uncredited)

Louie Giangrande

Photographed Student (uncredited)

Justin Lin

Jock (uncredited)

Did you know?

Trivia

Original prints of the film's theatrical poster misspelled Parry Shen's name as "Perry Shen".

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Although some people thought that the film was inspired by the 1992 murder of Stuart Tay, an Asian-American youth who was killed by four of his peers on New Year's Eve in Orange County, California, filmmaker Justin Lin has stated that "at the very beginning of the writing process, [he] made a conscious decision not to base it on that, or any other, real event."

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Though not physically correct for any roles, producer/performer Anthony Begonia was encouraged to audition.

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Goofs

When Steve is in the batting cage it is bright daylight. In all the reverse shots it is much darker.

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When the camera rotates around Ben at the free-throw line, he casts different shadows from each new camera angle.

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When Daric first hands Ben a cheat sheet, Ben crumbles the piece of paper. However, after Ben completes the cheat sheet and returns it to Daric, we see that the paper is not wrinkled, but neatly folded.

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Quotes

Ben Manibag: Virgil called Han over to watch some new porn, I guess Virgil just didn't have the balls to do it all alone.

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Ben Manibag: I shoot 215 free throws a day. My goal is to beat Calvin Murphy's record of 95.8%. Thats 207 baskets.

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Steve Choe: You like Steph.

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