“White Frog” is a wonderful, complex and enjoyable film with a powerful message. A coming-of-age film that I definitely recommend!
DVD TITLE: White Frog
YEAR OF FILM: 2012
DURATION: 93 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: Dolby Digital 5.1, Closed Captions
COMPANY: WolfeVideo.com
RATED: Not Rated
RELEASE DATE: July 16, 2013
Directed by Quentin Lee
Written by Ellie Wen, Fabienne Wen
Producer: Chris Lee, Joel Soisson, Ellie Wen
Executive Producer: David Henry Hwang, Kevin Iwashina
Line Producer: Stanley Yung
Music by Steven Pranoto
Cinematography by Yasu Tanida
Edited by Matthew Rundell
Casting by Brad Gilmore
Production Design by Ermanno Di Febo-Orisini
Set Decoration by Marina Starec
Costume Design by Michelle Wang
Starring:
Harry Shum Jr. as Chaz Young
Booboo Stewart as Nick Young
BD Wong as Olivery Young
Joan Chen as Irene Young
Tyler Pose as Doug
Kelly Hu as May Chung
Amy Hill as Dr. King
Gregg Sulkin as Randy Goldman
Justin Martin as Cameron
Talulah Riley as Ms. Lee
Jasmine Di Angelo as Briana
Major Curda as Samuel
From director Quentin Lee (“Shopping for Fangs”, “Drift”, “Ethan Mao”) comes a new film titled “White Frog”.
Available on DVD in July 2013, “White Frog” stars Booboo Stewart (“The Twilight Saga” films), Harry Shum, Jr. (“Glee”, “Step Up 2: The Streets”, “Step Up 3D”), B.D. Wong (“Seven Years in Tibet”, “Jurassic Park”, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”), Tyler Posey (“Teen Wolf”, “Maid in Manhattan”, “Collateral Damage”), Joan Chen (“The Last Emperor”, “Judge Dredd”, “Lust, Caution”), Amy Hill (“50 First Dates”, “Next Friday”) and Kelly Hu (“X2”, “Sunset Beach”, “The Scorpion King”).
“White Frog” is a drama that begins with two brothers. Chaz Young (portrayed by Harry Shum Jr.) is a well-known guy, athletic, active but also caring for his teenage brother Nick (portrayed by Booboo Stewart) who has Asperger’s Syndrome. Nick has fears of being around people and often wears the same light blue outfit.
For Nick, Chaz was a wonderful brother who was there for him and always put him first. But one day, Chaz is killed in an accident leaving Nick by himself.
His parents Oliver (portrayed by BD Wong) and Irene (portrayed by Joan Chen) are having a difficult time dealing with Chaz’s death and also troublesome for Oliver who can’t deal with the fact that Chaz is gone and that Nick is not normal. So much that Oliver questioned if Nick is his son. But there appears to be secrets within the Young family that Nick’s parents have not yet confronted but yet have to be revealed.
Meanwhile, Chaz’s friends try to get Nick involved in their group and their card gambling games. At first, Doug (portrayed by Tyler Posey) is against letting Nick be part of them but he realized that for Nick, it helps for him to be part of their group.
And when Nick starts to learn more about his older brother, he finds out about Chaz and a life that he kept hidden from him.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“White Frog” is presented in 1:85:1, while audio is in English Dolby Digital 5.1 with closed captions. Overall, picture quality is good on DVD. While you wish that WolfeVideo would release their films on Blu-ray, the film looks good with no major artifacts or problems.   Dialogue is clear with surround usage featuring ambiance of environments and crowds.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“White Frog” includes the following special features:
- Behind the Scenes Featurette – (14:01) The making of “White Frog”. Featuring interviews with director Quentin Lee of how he came upon the film and interviews with the cast and crew.
- Theatrical Trailer – (2:00) The theatrical trailer for “White Frog”.
I have had the opportunity to watch Quentin Lee’s films since “Shopping with Fangs” back in 1997 and for Lee, a director who is openly gay, he has directed films that tend to capture homosexuality in crime thrillers to romantic comedy.
But his latest film “White Frog” actually takes on a subject that tends to be taboo among Asian families, especially those who are strictly religious and that is the difficult of parents accepting children who are gay, or acknowledging it. May they see it as sinful or deviant behavior, often with Asian circles, we hear or know of situations where family and friends have had difficulty with coping with a person who is gay.
“White Frog” is a film that begins with a teenager named Nick, a teenager who has Asperger’s Syndrome. He has lost the only person in his life that made him feel normal and that is his older brother Chaz.
As Nick hangs out with his brother’s friends, he eventually gets to know a secret life that Chaz had lived. A life that he and his parents never knew.
Chaz is gay, kept it hidden because he knew of his family’s devotion towards their religion and their intolerance to homosexuality. For Nick, he has been brought up by his family and his church to believe that homosexuality is a sin, is not right and he’s conflicted. He sees homosexuality as abnormal behavior, but yet he is a boy that is also not normal and because of his Asperger’s Syndrome, his brother Chaz still loved Nick no matter what.
There is a message that families, especially Asian families can learn from. And with “White Frog”, it actually made me feel a bit emotional because I thought about my uncle who recently passed away. He lived his life trying to hid his homosexuality from family. Granted, it was a bit obvious but the fact is that he knew that certain people, family or friends would not be as accepting.
In some ways, I felt like Nick because with my uncle, he would try to have conversations and made me think he loved women but he would say things out of the blue, perhaps to get my reaction.  But I found out about my uncle’s homosexuality by accident. Similar to the character of Nick, for distant family members who were strict Catholics, they were not too open to homosexuality.
And similar to Nick, I only discovered my uncle’s life after his death. He lived life with the people who made him happy and accepted him and when it came to his lifestyle.
While I came to acceptance of his lifestyle many years ago, it’s unfortunate that when family did have the time to talk about it…it was after his death. And unfortunately, for other families, it’s unfortunate that families acknowledge things, when it’s too late. This is the same situation with the family featured in “White Frog”.
With “White Frog”, this film captures the feeling of one not coming out due to having strict religious parents. A teenager who finds out about his brother’s lifestyle, that he never knew…because of the way they were raised and were taught that homosexuality is abnormal.
Quentin Lee’s approach to this film is through the message of why people hide their homosexuality from their parents. No, you’re not going to see gay romance but what you will see is a family that is rocked by the death of a family member but to find out that Chaz, a boy who was intelligent, active and loved by many, is gay. Parents bound to their religious beliefs and taught that homosexuality is wrong and a young brother who absolutely loved his older brother, confused of how she should react.
I give writers Ellie Wen and Fabienne Wen credit because they were able to craft and write a complex, emotional and film with a powerful message. Having the character of Nick as a bridge to show that because of his Asperger’s Syndrome, his family and society don’t think he’s normal or treat him as normal. But yet his brother Chaz did. He put his younger brother first, loved him unconditionally no matter what. But yet, Nick starts to realize that his brother felt the same way, that he had to keep his true self hidden from his family and friends, because they may not think he’s normal. The fact is that everyone is different and the message in this film is strong and I hope that if families are able to watch this and comprehend the pain that those who fear of coming out have, it may lift whatever hate or longstanding belief from their hearts and accept people no matter how different they are.
I also have to give Quentin continued praise for continuing to use Asian American talent, people I have known in the industry for a long time. Actress Amy Hill has a short role as Nick’s psychiatrist, Dr. King. And for those who are familiar with Hill’s comedy work, it’s great to see some of that in “White Frog”. Also, it was great to see B.D. Wong, Kelly Hu and Joan Chen. Last but not least, I acknowledge the performances of the younger talent of this film. BooBoo Stewart gives a wonderful and emotional performance, Harry Shum Jr. gives us another side to his acting outside of “Glee” and “Step Up” and also Tyler Posey, does a good job of playing the
Overall, “White Frog” is a wonderful, complex and enjoyable film with a powerful message. A coming-of-age film that I definitely recommend!
