Arts & Entertainment

Lin gets lucky with indie flick

By Uruj Perwaiz
The Daily Cougar

As a child, Justin Lin hated films. He was uninterested in the industry until he saw Fracis Ford Coppolais Tucker: The Man and his Dream. Inspired, Lin earned a bacheloris and a masteris degree in film directing and created a hilarious and thought-provoking independent film about teenage angst.

Better Luck Tomorrow, which has an all Asian-American cast, tells the story of six high school students who are academic overachievers. They constantly struggle with the pressure of trying to get into Ivy League universities.

Lin works with children, coaches basketball and volunteers at the Japanese American National Museum. He thought a specific need existed for a movie about the decisions children make.

"I want people to see this movie and realize that they arenit bad kids, just kids who make bad decisions," Lin said during a lunch-time interview.

Dressed casually in faded blue jeans and a black sweater, Lin chewed on some broccoli before adding, "After seeing this film, I want people to walk away with questions. If you ask questions, I feel like Iive done my job." 

Better Luck Tomorrow has all the familiar characters of a teenage cast. Thereis Ben, the super-smart guy, and Daric, the snobby tennis player and president of every club in the school. Then thereis Virgil, Benis dorky friend, and Stephanie, the cheerleader Ben has a crush on. Of course, thereis also Stephanieis rich boyfriend whom everyone hates. These characters seem to have little connection in the beginning, but by the movieis end they are all intertwined.

After a few more bites of lunch, Lin delved into the challenges of making this independent film. 

"The Sundance Film Festival was a major goal in making the film as an indie film," Lin said. "Itis actually funny that MTV picked up this film because I originally wanted to make it like an anti-MTV film. People in studios liked the film but always wanted to change the ethnicity of the characters. So, eventually I just had to apply for 10 credit cards and put my entire life savings into it just to make the film."

Lin explained that he was sick of seeing talented Asian-American actors constantly playing "delivery men or kung fu masters." By making this film, heis opened a lot of doors, but he doesnit want to do "Jet Li-type movies." Rather, heid like to continue portraying Asian-American actors as "three dimensional characters." 

Next on Linis to-do list is a project with Spike Lee about Texas blacks. Until then, we can all enjoy his soul-searching comedy.

Better Luck Tomorrow

Rated: R

Starring: Jason J. Tobin, Parry Shen

MTV Films

The verdict: A great movie about teens and the decisions they make.
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