Movie Review: “White On Rice” with James Kyson Lee

WHITE ON RICE would probably have not landed on my desk if HEROES’ James Kyson Lee wasn’t involved in it. But I’m glad I watched the film, and also saw James in a whole different field outside of HEROES.

On first pass, I can’t really describe what genre WHITE ON RICE falls into. It’s somewhere between light drama and comedy, with a touch of romance and an undercurrent of tragedy thrown in. And mind you, the storyline is not that complex, but the script and portrayal have a way of making you laugh at the hilarity of a serious moment, and punch Jimmy (the main character) and put some sense into him, and then lead you to a teary-eyed scene, all while watching characters with gloomy, sad, almost-expressionless faces. I can’t imagine how the cast even kept straight faces while they’re saying their lines.

WHITE ON RICE is about a 40-year old divorcee named Jimmy, who wants nothing more than find “someone better than” his ex-wife, whose photo he lovingly kisses every night and says “I’ll find someone better than you.” Jimmy is more immature than a ten year old and sees nothing wrong with it. I mean, his running shoes has velcro, and he still loves dinosaurs (like my 5-year old nephew) except Jimmy is 40. Jimmy is not dumb, because he aces a college-level geology class! But when the Professor talks about how he loves rocks, Jimmy becomes genuinely super-enthusiastic and proudly shouts, “So do we! Rocks are great!”

Straight out of Japan, Jimmy now lives with his sister Aiko (Nae), a lonely young wife married to a much older man Tak (Mio Takada) who used to be so fun and sweet. Aiko and Tak have a 10-year old son named Bob (played by aspiring filmmaker Justin Kwong  – is he older than he looks?!), who has an enterprising after-school career to pay for his piano lessons. After several unsuccessful dates set by his co-worker Tim (James Kyson Lee), Jimmy gets interested in his brother-in-law’s sister Ramona (Lynn Chen). It turns out that Ramona and Tim once dated and are re-kindling their romance, so Jimmy tries to compete for her affection, and dreams of getting back at Tim. At Tim and Ramona’s wedding, Jimmy approaches the groom and with all sincerity smiles “I had a dream that I killed you,” while handing out his congratulations.

But Jimmy gets his second chance, and you applaud that someone as childish and simple like Jimmy finally finds what he is looking for. Although the film has an Asian cast, and there are scenes that Asians would relate to better (and crack them up more), I really thought the film was able to transcend ethnicity. It’s a film about relationships and coming-of-age… in a 40-year old. And that’s what makes WHITE ON RICE very funny!

Hiroshi Watanabe was a genius at portraying Jimmy, and you feel for the character so much that you wonder if that look is all made up, because Jimmy can look so immature when he’s smiles, and how can you “scold” a big boy like him? The supporting cast was great at “telling the story”, including James Kyson Lee, my original reason for following the film. Fans of James will love one particular scene when the actor shows a talent that we haven’t seen on HEROES. But it’s Justin Kwong, who plays Bob the nephew that made me wonder the entire time. Is he really older than he looks… and have I said that before?! His bio says he is an
aspiring architect and film maker, and a talented pianist. So I guess that was really him playing and not some double. And on set, Justin served as 2nd Assistant Camera on many occasions. Maybe that’s why the character can look so mature for his age.

It’s definitely a film that is worth watching. The entire cast is Asian, directed by David Boyle of “Big Dreams, Little Tokyo”.  The film has been playing in the Asian Festivals, but it is moving through select theaters across the country. This week WHITE ON RICE is playing in San Francisco and San Jose, California and later in the month in Salt Late, Denver in Honolulu.