Watch Roger Ebert publicly rant after a screening at Sundance Film Festival
As one of the most esteemed, influential, and iconic critics in history, the opinion of Roger Ebert carried plenty of weight not just among his peers and contemporaries but among the filmmakers whose work he was tasked to review.
However, having him stand up in the aftermath of a Sundance Film Festival screening and vociferously defend a low-budget crime thriller that would be retroactively folded into the continuity of the Fast & Furious franchise over a decade later is easily among the most unique situations his long and distinguished career placed him in.
The first solo feature directed by Justin Lin – who’d debuted co-helming Shopping for Fangs alongside Quentin Lee in 1997 – Better Luck Tomorrow followed a close-knit group of Asian-American friends who find themselves seduced by a life of crime, as well as the excess and inherent danger that comes with it.
Following its premiere at the 2012 edition of Sundance – where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize – a Q&A session opened the doors to not just Ebert’s impassioned defence but, ultimately, the film’s acquisition by a major studio.
An infuriated audience member piped up and asked Lin: “Why, with the talent up there and yourself, make a film so empty and amoral for Asian-Americans and Americans?” Bemused by the line of inquiry, Lin and his cohorts didn’t even have time to respond before Ebert leapt to his feet and offered a rebuttal.
Retorting with the rage palpable in his voice, Ebert fired back: “What I find very offensive and condescending about your statement is nobody would say to a bunch of white filmmakers, ‘How could you do this to your people?'”
Continuing to champion Better Luck Tomorrow, he said: “This film has the right to be about these people, and Asian-Americans have the right to be whatever the hell they want to be”, as the crowd cheered deafeningly around him.
As well as awarding it four stars in his own review, star Parry Shen revealed to MTV that it was thanks to his endorsement the project became MTV Films’ first-ever acquisition, with a bullet dodged along the way, sharing how “after he finished speaking, Harvey Weinstein wanted us, and then Fox, and MTV Films”.
Ebert defending Better Luck Tomorrow and causing it to be acquired for distribution – which ultimately saw the film recoup its modest $250,000 budget more than 12 times over at the box office – might not even be the most fascinating piece of trivia associated with Lin’s breakthrough, either, which is saying something.
Having already cast Sung Kang as a character named Han Lue in Better Luck Tomorrow, when Lin boarded the Fast & Furious saga beginning with the third instalment, Tokyo Drift, and reunited with the actor, he confirmed years later that they were one and the same. As a result, he’d officially tied his acclaimed and Ebert-approved crime story into the fabric of one of Hollywood’s most lucrative properties as its one – and so far only – designated prequel.
