This movie is about Asian teen-agers growing up in America,particularly in California,who breaks all stereotypes of being "nerdy",industrious and overachievers.They can always have the tendency to become amoral when growing up without family influence and people whose values may lead them to criminal paths as they become influenced by a American society marked by crass materialism which makes the amount of money that one possess as the marker for success.The movie has Ben Manibag as the main character.He is an Asian that obviously comes from a family of suburban affluence.He achieves good grades,a junior varsity basketball team member who has the ability to play and a food drive worker of the school - credentials and qualities which makes him locked in any Ivy league school for College such as Stanford,Princeton and Harvard.He is a typical stereotype of what Asians growing up in the United States are all about.But as the movie progresses,we later find out that he lives a life that is characterized far from being a model Asian by selling cheat sheets to other students,losing his virginity by hiring a prostitute,stealing,selling drugs,indulging into pornography and committing murder.He breaks away from what Asians are perceived to be.It is explained in the movie that somehow these kids are affected by an American society that somehow lacks guidance from parents who work too hard to obtain material progress which in turn neglect their children and by a group of Asian friends who have somehow been influenced by the ill effects of an industrial and modern society marked by lack of morality and guidance from adults.The movie is a dark film that includes a comedy and romance.It was well-directed by newcomer Justin Lin.Also,it is well-acted by English speaking and talented Asian-American actors.Despite of criticisms by some people of the Asian community,I highly recommend this film for sends the viewer a message of what lack of moral guidance can do even to a group of people like Asians who are perceived to have good qualities such as industry and ambition.It is a must see not only for Asians in the United States but for everyone who loves good film alike.

I was compelled to borrow this from my library due to my crush on John Cho, aka Harold from Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. Anyhoo, I was so surprised at what a great, compelling movie it is. The actors are uniformly excellent. I was most drawn to the performances of Parry Shen and Jason Tobin, who play Ben and Virgil. Friends since childhood, they get drawn into a stylish and dark high school underworld of crime and violence.MTV Films has produced some interesting films, possibly one of the few companies that consistently releases original and surprising 'feels like independent' films.

I had been wanting to rent this movie for a while now, ever since I read an article about it in "Entertainment Magazine". That article piqued my curiosity about this film. Since I am African-American I know how we see ourselves in society but I wanted to see how Asians (especially young Asians) view themselves in this society. The amazing part about the film was as long as these teens grades were good no one suspected them of committing any crimes plus the fact that their demeanor at school was so laid back and normal. Unfortunately that is also the eerie part about this movie because those kids could be your own next door neighbors or friends of your own kids and you would never suspect them of such crimes. Also the fact that out of all the character's "dark sides", Ben (the most unlikely one) had the "DARKEST SIDE OF ALL". I think it was a piece of symbolism to say that when he lost his virginity that all his inhibitions were released to the point that he would do just about anything which led to his ultimate act of violence. It was quite disturbing to see Han trying to comfort Virgil as they were finishing off killing Steve and then to have the guilt weigh so heavy on Virgil to where he attempted suicide. It seems as though Virgil and Ben mentally switched places. I was explaining to my daughter the fact of what happens sometimes when people are too smart for their own good--you get bored and your "idle mind becomes the devil's workshop". These kids were striving and pushing themselves towards perfection but what they did not realize was "perfection (or near perfection) comes with a price".

So for the most part I really liked this movie. I thought it showed great potential from the director and cast. Strange that after three years most of them have been in limbo career- wise. However, my comments lay more in the major turning point of the film rather than the whereabouts of the filmmakers. The one problem I had with the story is when Ben kills Steve. How the hell do you set up a character that you're supposed to have sympathy for and then have him do something as horrific as that. Especially in the brutal manner in which it was done. And for what! A girl...that he kinda liked...and that kinda liked him...and maybe they kissed. Maybe I'm missing something, but after that I could care less about what happened to Ben. I wanted to care more, but what the hell, now I can't see him as a likable guy anymore. You can't root for someone you don't like at least on some level. Other then that I liked what I saw. There's a lot of budding talent here: Sung Kang, Jason Tobin, and John Cho are among the ones that stood out for me personally, and overall I really liked the way Justin Lin pulled off the film.