''White Frog'' is a 2012 American

comedy-drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

directed by

Quentin Lee Quentin Lee (; born 1971) is a Hong Kong-born Canadian-American film writer, director, and producer. He is most notable for the television series ''Comedy InvAsian'' and feature films ''The People I've Slept With'' (2009), '' Ethan Mao'' (2004), ...

and written by Fabienne Wen. The film's plot follows neglected 16-year-old Nick Young, played by

Booboo Stewart Nils Allen "Booboo" Stewart Jr. (born January 21, 1994) is an American actor. He is known for playing Seth Clearwater in '' The Twilight Saga'', Warpath in '' X-Men: Days of Future Past'', Jay in the Disney television film franchise '' Descend ...

, a teenager with

autism spectrum disorder The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

whose life is changed forever when tragedy strikes him and his family. The film also stars Harry Shum, Jr., B.D. Wong,

Joan Chen Joan Chen (born April 26, 1961) is a Chinese-American actress and film director. In China, she performed in the 1979 film and came to the attention of American audiences for her performance in the 1987 film '' The Last Emperor''. She is also ...

Gregg Sulkin Gregg Sulkin (born 29 May 1992) is a British actor. He made his film debut in the 2002 ''Doctor Zhivago'' mini-series. He later starred in the 2006 British release '' Sixty Six'', and subsequently appeared in the Disney Channel comedy series ''A ...

, and

Tyler Posey Tyler may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tyler (name), an English name; with lists of people with the surname or given name * Tyler, the Creator (born 1991), American rap artist and producer * John Tyler, 10th president of the United ...

. ''White Frog'' premiered at the

San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival CAAMFest, known prior to 2013 as the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF), is presented every March in the San Francisco Bay Area in the United States as the nation’s largest showcase for new Asian American and Asia ...

on March 8, 2012.

Plot

Nick Young (Stewart) is a high school freshman with

who idolizes his perfect older brother Chaz Young (Shum). While riding his bike to a friend's house, Chaz is hit by a group of guys driving recklessly and dies. The crash leaves Nick fighting to overcome his grief while feeling misunderstood by his distraught parents (Wong and Chen), who are left trying to preserve the memory of their "perfect son". One of Chaz's friends, Doug (Posey), takes Nick under his wing and has Nick take Chaz's place in a weekly poker game with their friends Ajit, Cameron and Randy (Sulkin). Randy baffles the group by being hostile to Nick's face while defending him when he's not around. Doug and Randy bring Nick to the LGBT community center that Chaz volunteered at, which confuses Nick. Just as Randy begins warming to him, Nick stumbles upon pictures of Chaz and Randy suggesting that they were more than just friends. Randy confirms that he and Chaz were gay, shattering Nick's worldview and driving him into despair. Nick eventually confronts his parents, who refuse to accept Chaz's sexuality. Nick runs away from home, and his parents go to the shelter to look for him. While there, they learn that Chaz's voice might be heard on a video presentation to be played that night, and proceed to call a lawyer relative to try to halt the proceedings, leaving Doug to search for Nick. Randy gets his father to help him stop the Youngs' lawyer, coming out to him in the process. Nick, meanwhile, discovers a video message that Chaz had made as a way of coming out to Nick. Hearing the confession in Chaz's own words inspires him to return to the shelter and give a speech about acceptance, reconciling himself, his parents, and Randy with Chaz's memory.

Cast

as Nick Young, a teen with Asperger's * Harry Shum, Jr. as Chaz Young, the late older brother of Nick *

as Randy Goldman, Chaz's secret lover * B. D. Wong as Oliver Young, Nick and Chaz's distant father *

as Irene Young, Nick and Chaz's estranged mother *

as Doug *

Manish Dayal Manish Patel (born June 17, 1983), known professionally as Manish Dayal, is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Raj Kher in The CW hit teen series '' 90210'' as well as in the films '' The Hundred Foot Journey'' (2014) and '' Vic ...

as Ajit *

Talulah Riley Talulah Jane Riley-Milburn''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916-2005''; Ancestry.com. Retrieved 3 November 2015. (born 26 September 1985) is an English actress and writer. She has appeared in films, including '' Pride & P ...

as Ms. Lee, Chaz's lesbian mentor *

Kelly Hu Kelly Ann Hu (born February 13, 1968 ) is an American actress, voice artist, former fashion model and beauty queen who was Miss Teen USA 1985 and Miss Hawaii USA 1993. Hu starred as Dr. Rae Chang on the American television soap opera '' Sunset ...

as Aunt May * Justin Martin as Cameron *

Amy Hill Amy Marie Hill (born May 9, 1953) is an American actress and stand-up comedian. Hill's first major role was as Yung-Hee "Grandma" Kim on '' All-American Girl'' where her character became the breakout character of the short-lived television serie ...

as Dr. King, Nick's hilarious therapist * Phil Abrams as Ira Goldman *

David Henry Hwang David Henry Hwang (born August 11, 1957) is an American playwright, librettist, screenwriter, and theater professor at Columbia University in New York City. He has won three Obie Awards for his plays '' FOB'', '' Golden Child'', and '' Yell ...

as the Pastor * Lynn Ann Leveridge as Maria * Kathryn Layng as Edie * Ron McCoy as the Bearded Man * Major Curda as Samuel * Jasmine Di Angelo as Briana *

Carla Jimenez Carla Jimenez (born May 14, 1974 in Westwood, Los Angeles, California) is an American television and film actress. Career She has had roles in series such as ''Lincoln Heights (TV series), Lincoln Heights'', ''My Name Is Earl'' and ''Little Br ...

as Mrs. Rodriguez

Pre-production

''White Frog'' was written by the mother/daughter duo Fabienne Wen and Ellie Wen. Ellie Wen's mentor,

, was an executive producer. Principal photography was completed in August 2011.

Score and soundtrack

The score to ''White Frog'' was composed by Steven Pranoto. The soundtrack features David Choi, CriBabi, Gowe, PaperDoll, Shin-B, IAMMEDIC, and Booboo and Fivel Stewart.

References

External links

* * *
Quentin Lee’s 'White Frog': A Jumping Point for Discussion

Twitch Film: SFIAAF 2012: San Francisco Welcomes an Elite, Typically Eclectic Batch of New Films

San Francisco Chronicle: Asian festival has veterans, new faces

SFIAAFF30 Opening Night Feature
{{DEFAULTSORT:White Frog 2012 films 2010s teen comedy-drama films Comedy-drama films about Asian Americans Films about Chinese Americans 2010s English-language films Films about autism American independent films American teen comedy-drama films American LGBT-related films LGBT-related films about Chinese Americans 2012 independent films 2010s American films