"White On Rice" Trailer

[Mulboyne]

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LAT: James Kyson Lee is mortal again and loving it
James Kyson Lee...was reduced to a mere mortal when it came to learning guitar -- to play an Asian Quaker surrounded by Mormons -- in the new film "White on Rice"...Lee had worked with director and co-writer David Boyle on the filmmaker's previous feature, "Big Dreams, Little Tokyo," so he was happy to jump into a supporting role in "Rice." The new comedy concerns an offbeat Japanese man-child, Hajime (Hiroshi Watanabe), adrift since his divorce and now living in America with his sister's family. Jimmy, as he's called, falls for Ramona (Lynn Chen), not noticing she only has eyes for Tim (Lee)...more...

[Behan]

James Kyson Lee...was reduced to a mere mortal when it came to learning guitar -- to play an Asian Quaker surrounded by Mormons -- ...

Quakers kick ass. Er,...no they don't. But they would if they could.

[Mulboyne]

SF Gate: Japan inspires director again

For a guy who has now made two films with major emphasis on Japanese culture, Dave Boyle has a startling admission: "I've never been to Japan," Boyle said. "I would like to go, maybe with a film. I am curious, and for convenience sake, I speak the language." In fact, the comedy "White on Rice," a goofy film about a 40-year-old loser bunking with his 10-year-old nephew and romantically longing for his brother-in-law's college-age niece, is mostly in Japanese with English subtitles, although it takes place in an America that seems suspiciously like Los Angeles. So how did Boyle, 27, get to be so immersed in Japanese culture? Boyle is a Mormon, went to Brigham Young University and lives in Provo, Utah. "When I was 19, I was sent on a (two-year) mission to a Japanese-speaking community in Sydney, Australia," Boyle said. "You don't get to choose where you go. I took a crash course in Japanese before I left, and then learned to speak Japanese in Australia."

Boyle's first film, "Big Dreams, Little Tokyo" (2006), filmed largely in the Bay Area, starred Boyle as an American trying to get a job with a Japanese company, while his Japanese American roommate dreams of becoming a sumo wrestler. Boyle called it "a heavily disguised version of my Mormon mission." The success of "White on Rice" rests largely on its star, Japanese-speaking American actor Hiroshi Watanabe ("Letters From Iwo Jima"). His character, Jimmy, is as eccentric and in his own world as Napoleon Dynamite. "He's one of those guys that just pops onscreen," Boyle said. "In real life, I like people who are characters, people that are even a little bit obnoxious. "Jimmy is a man who has no guile. He can't hide what he's thinking. I like people like that." The film also stars Nae (also in "Letters From Iwo Jima") as Jimmy's put-upon sister, Lynn Chen ("Saving Face") as the love interest and James Kyson Lee (NBC's "Heroes") as Jimmy's rival for Chen's affections. Boyle says he will go on and make more films, but feels no need to move to L.A. "I've been planning on moving to San Francisco for a while, but I haven't gotten around to it."

[Mulboyne]