Review of White Frog (2013) by Lee M — 05 Apr 2017

Being a tender and warm message from the coming-of-age, 'White Frog' is a gentle and moving attempt to provide a message that prompts unity for families, encourages tolerance, gives a clear message of love and implies that diversity is key to understand new societies.

The story positions Nick (Booboo Stewart) as a young, autistic boy who lives with his older brother Chaz (Harry Shum Jr.) and their two parents in a well-off home in Beverly Hills. After Chaz's death, Nick has to face himself alone and without the protection of his brother to live as a student, exposing himself to the common problems that adolescence brings. After a series of adventures, Nick will find all the secrets of his brother, so he will seek to honor his memory as the great person he meant for him.

In the first instance, the film is risky from the moment its protagonist is autistic. The character is poorly built and this is due to Lee's limited ability to direct this story. He really does not seem to know the behavior of a real autistic, so Nick is not only incomplete, but also tremendously false at times. His parents are completely detestable characters and this kept an intention, however Lee forgot that to be a bad character, he or she must have qualities to be that, and in this case, they are terrible being bad parents.

The gay theme is approached in a gentle and discursive way. Reactions to this by the characters are different, but at the same time unconvincing and quite predictable. Even so the cast seems to have an adequate acquisition of characteristics that makes them differentiate between them. However, the tale does not favor them, since it is full of unnecessary moments like the meeting of Nick with the homeless people or the sudden hatred of Chaz's ex boyfriend towards Nick, which are actions that present holes.

Without firm guidance, the emotional and psychological transitions of the characters are fast and inexplicable, practically imperceptible, reducing the seriousness and credibility of the plot. Film resources are also limited. I was not expecting a great picture of Los Angeles but at least something more of Beverly Hills.

Although the direction and the production are a disaster and it does not manage to eliminate the annoying and melancholy kitsch tone in all the narration, the story is very original. It manages to get rid of many frequent clichés and focuses on showing different faces of a story that we rarely imagined would be possible. The fable is charming, it fulfills its objectives and it does not wander. It finishes as it began: in a sweet and enlightened way. 58/100.