Ben (Perry Shen) is an overachieving high schooler with the one aim of getting into an ivy league school. He gets straight As, learns a new word every day to score perfect on his SATs, works part-time in a fast food joint and warms the bench on the JV basketball team to strengthen his college application.

However, there is another side to his life very different from that of the model student. Together with his friends Virgil (Jason Tobin) and Han (Sung Kang) he steals from electronics stores by fraudulent use of bar codes, merchandise, packaging, as well as credit cards. Things get worse when the trio get involved with Derek (Roger Fan), the ultimate model student, president of every school club and standout on the varsity tennis team.  They get involved in selling cheat sheets and drugs throughout the school as well as Ben becoming addicted to cocaine.

Ben is attracted to a classmate by name of Stephanie (Karin Anna Cheung) but does not approve of how her boyfriend Steve (played by John Cho from American Pie) is neglecting and cheating on her. The plot reaches its peak when Steve asks the four of them to rob his parents’ house, whom he feels are too neglectful of him. With Derek as their ringleader, the group decide not to rob the home but give him a good beating which results in his death.

Better Luck Tomorrow (directed by Justin Lin)  is really a suspenseful coming-of-age drama about identity and finding your role and place in society loosely based on a true story. The characters are multi-demensional and each has his/her own issues in dealing with the pressure of success and the boredom of American suburbia. The issues and plots are complex and often difficult to understand, nevertheless an entertaining watch.