White Frog

This is a surprising little gem of a movie. I say this because it deals with so much in the way of familial and interpersonal relationships in a compact amount of time. The storyline of this film revolves around an Asian American family and its trials and tribulations particularly regarding their two teenage sons. (NO SPOILERS HERE.) The excellent BD Wong plays the father, Joan Chen is the mother, Harry Shum, Jr is Chaz the eldest son, and a superb BooBoo Stewart is Nick the youngest son who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome (a kind of autism). Despite his affliction, Nick is a whiz in math and school, and does Chaz's homework for him (not necessarily willingly) as payback for Chaz's earlier big brother protection at school. Chaz is also the one who really takes care of him and Nick is very much dependent upon his "surrogate" dad. Chaz regularly goes out on Friday night to "play video games" with his friends among them being Gregg Sulkin (Faking It) and Tyler Posey (Teen Wolf). Nick wants to join them but is rejected as being too young. At one point, Chaz stays behind for awhile to play basketball with Nick and then later departs on his bike to meet with his friends. Shortly afterward word comes in that Chaz is in the hospital, the result of being hit by a car driven by a bunch of rowdy drunk teenagers. Chaz dies (no spoiler here since it happens at the very beginning of our story and is essential for what will evolve from this tragedy). What we have from now on is basically the following: A coming of age story involving Nick who must learn to overcome his condition and live successfully in an independent way without his late brother to comfort and protect him; a father who must discover the full substance of his youngest son (who, at one point, even wondered if his son was actually his) and learn to fully accept him; a mother who must come to terms with the rest of her family and assert herself when necessary - which she eventually does magnificently; and a final revelation that both shocks and ultimately cements the entire family into a new coherent whole. The supporting cast is top notch; and all play a key role in Nick's evolution as well as the resolution of those elements that were tearing the family apart. Talulah Riley has a key role as a shelter for needy children. The title of this film is a metaphor for what Nick does not want to be and refers to a Chinese delicacy and the way it is prepared. The ultimate sub-text contained in this film's story is really secondary to everything else mentioned earlier in this review. BooBoo Stewart's performance alone is "worth the price of admission" and should have been rewarded with some kind of nomination. Buy or rent this DVD. It is mesmerizing.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It's not a typical gay "coming out" movie — it's deeper than that. The characters were quite interesting and fairly well developed. The parents are somewhat stereotypical upwardly mobile Asians — very concerned with appearances. There are two sons. The younger one has Asperger's syndrome and struggles to fit in and socialize and the older brother protects, encourages and defends the younger. He is also a star athlete and student — a true golden child. Tragically, the older brother is killed in an auto accident and the family struggles to adjust afterward. Secrets start coming out and it is revealed that the older son had a whole second life in parallel to the one his family knew.I don't want to get into the plot any further. The bulk of the movie is how the parents and surviving son react to the secrets as they are revealed and their attempts to maintain the image of the son/brother they'd always known. Their attempts to do this and their eventual acceptance of the entirety of the deceased son is believable and understandable.I found "White Frog" to be a touching, charming movie. I'm glad I watched it and have recommended it to several friends.

Unless you know what White Frog means, don't assume anything about what it means or what the movie is about. In White Frog, the two major complementary themes that run parallel eventually create an understanding for their family and hopefully the audience. I have much admiration how the movie chose to create such a story in this manner. It is special. The cast is outstanding. Joan Chen is in this movie! BooBoo Stewart was amazing.This particular family is church-going, so Christianity is part of the story. However, the story did not seem preachy to me, and I hate being preached at. I did see a subtle message how wealthy church-going folk don't always have the answers and certainly might display a gap in their behavior in contrast to the relatively poor kid Doug, a prince of a guy and not necessarily in the pews every Sunday. At one point when Doug was looking out for Nick, the song playing in the background was "Words that Define" with the lyrics about the gospel of Christ. I took that as a clear message that people like Doug are what Christ had in mind, whereas regular Christians are awfully challenged at showing unconditional love. However, Christianity is a lesser theme in the overall story. There is a lot more going on in this movie. Make a point of seeing this one. It is well done and very poignant.

Yes, "White Frog" is a little bit Hallmark. A tad After School Special. If you have no relish or even patience for bittersweet fairytales, scroll to the next video. Myself, I'm a proud sentimental fool. I know the world needs fairytales as much as it needs all the other sorts of tales we tell ourselves. For me, the best thing in life is to participate in any of love's many splendored forms. The second best, to witness these forms. The third, to behold their depiction in art.

I love the movie, BUT having had to return the first disc because it froze at one spot and missed about 20 minutes, I thought the replacement would play all the way through, but NO, it froze at exactly the same spot on disc 2. But it did continue through the film after leaving it for a few minutes (& a bit if use of the remote). Finally I saw the movie I had seen the pre-release trailer for and it was as good as I expected. Simply frustrated that the disc froze at the same point AND on different players for each disc! A copy issue with the disc I would suggest.

Brilliant film a lot to learn from it

a refreshing touching portrait.while based on asian characters, the theme is universal and treated with much compassion. production values are first classbravo director quentin lee and cast - booboo stewart, henry shum jr greg sulkin, tyler posey and joan chen

This was a great movie everyone should see it .It's hard to come out to your friends and family sometimes

Bonne expérience avec ce DVD à découvrir attention VO anglais uniquement

Many movies have stereotypical gay themes and gay characters - this one avoids those pitfalls. The quality of the film was way above that of its peers and this truly shone about.The story revolves around a boy with aspergers syndrome whose family cannot idenify with him - with the one exception of his older brother. When his brother is killed in a road accident, the world of the remaining family members begins to unravel.The acting of all of the main protagonists was exceptional - and I do not mind admitting that I was very tearful at times. However the tone of the film is not overly heavy and I will certainly revisit this gen time and again.