Left to right, Parry Shen, John Cho and Sung Kang star in "Better Luck Tomorrow." (MTV Films/Paramount Pictures). Better Luck Tomorrow Starring: Parry Shen, Jason Tobin, Sung Kang. Director: Justin Lin. Rated R: Strong violence, profanity. Running time: 115 minutes. view the trailer | official website Everyone knows a guy like Ben--the perfect Asian American high school teen. He's an extremely intelligent perfectionist, an overachiever whose tunnel vision will lead to nothing less than graduation at the top of his class and acceptance to the best Ivy League University. As he struggles to achieve social acceptance in high school, we discover his darker side. Along with his two friends Virgil and Hal, Ben leads a double life of mischief and petty crimes that alleviate the pressures of perfection and only become worse when he meets up with Daric, the senior valedictorian who is also a time bomb ready to explode.

by Ben Nuckols, Associated Press

“Better Luck Tomorrow,” a corrosive, insightful study of the pressure-packed lives of suburban high school students, brings a new variant to gangster movies: gangsters with perfect SAT scores.

Justin Lin’s movie embraces stereotypes in order to smash them. The heroes, all Asian, find the perfect cover in the way parents, teachers and classmates perceive them — intelligent and industrious, yet quiet and humble. In reality, they’re first-rate thieves and scam artists, and they learn how to run their criminal enterprise by first mastering the socially acceptable art of scamming admissions deans at the nation’s top universities.

Lin makes an argument worth considering: that the soul-sucking college-application process and the shamelessly cynical resume-padding that goes into it are just a half-step away morally from a life of crime. These boys’ hearts are in nothing they do, either academic or extracurricular; it’ s all a show to impress a dean behind an ivy-covered wall.

“Better Luck Tomorrow” — shot in Orange County, Calif., where Lin was raised — is the most keenly observed, savagely funny vision of high school life since 1999’s “Election.” Lin’s immersion into his characters’ universe is so deep that adults have only a handful of speaking roles — a bold choice that suggests the extent to which parents and teachers can be kept in the dark.

Any kid in this kind of pressure cooker needs a release, and Ben (Parry Shen), who narrates this teen noir like a nerdy Fred MacMurray, blows off steam after academic decathlon practice either by shooting free throws or shoplifting. His partners in the latter venture are goofy Virgil (Jason Tobin) and Virgil’s too-cool-for-school cousin, Han (Sung Kang).

The stakes are elevated when these three fall into the orbit of Daric (Roger Fan), a cocky, good-looking poseur (“Don’t let the letter jacket fool you. It’s for tennis,” Ben says) who’s the president of every school club that Ben and Virgil dutifully attend.

Daric offers Ben $50 to prepare a cheat sheet, and soon Daric, Ben, Virgil and Han are running a cheating racket and other elaborate scams. Eventually they begin dealing drugs. And after Daric pulls a gun during a fight at a party, the four have an aura about them; they stride through the halls untouched.

Yet Ben’s new notoriety can’t help him win Stephanie (Karin Anna Cheung), the pouty-lipped cheerleader of his dreams. Stephanie likes Ben, confides in him, cries on his shoulder — but she’s dating callous, two-timing private school student Steve (John Cho).

Ben’s love for Stephanie and hatred of Steve drives the plot, giving Ben an incentive to fall back into violent activities even after he distances himself from his pals.

Shen, like all the actors, is perfect in the role; he’s every doormat-geek you ever knew who pined for a girl he couldn’t have.

Lin’s pacing could be improved, but his comic instincts are sharp. When Ben scraps his way onto the junior-varsity basketball team but rarely sees playing time, Daric writes a bogus expose for the school newspaper about how Ben is the token Asian on the team. As a result, Ben gets his own cheering section at games, and he’s known as “The Yellow Shadow.”

Ultimately, Lin’s social observation is more potent than his storytelling — the narrative loses steam in the second half, even as it veers toward tragedy. Still, “Better Luck Tomorrow” crackles with excitement and provokes pangs of recognition throughout. This is brave, rancorous entertainment.