Exclusive: Help Jimmy Survive, See White on Rice

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on August 19, 2009

Usually, marketing for independent films isn’t this funny. Well to be fair, there aren’t many really funny under-the-radar indies that pop up outside of a major film festival like Sundance or Toronto, making White on Rice a potential exception to the rule. So its fitting that the marketing, which for us begins with the exclusive clip we’re debuting below, is simple, odd and quite funny.

Meet Jimmy. He lives on his own. He just wants to find a job so that he doesn’t have to live in the park anymore. Won’t you help him out and see his movie?

Click Below to Watch the Clip

The official synopsis goes like this: Director Dave Boyle (Big Dreams Little Tokyo) returns with White on Rice, the comedic story of Jimmy (Hiroshi Watanabe, Letters from Iwo Jima), a misguided 40-year-old divorceé trying to navigate his way through a new life in America and out of his sister Aiko’s (Japanese Academy Award winner Nae) basement. Disgraced by his disgruntled brother-in-law Tak (Mio Takada, Late Night with Conan O’Brien), the immature yet adorable Jimmy spends his nights searching for a new wife who shares his love of dinosaurs and geology. Things go horribly wrong when Jimmy falls desperately in love with Tak’s niece, the beautiful Ramona (Lynn Chen, Saving Face), and vows to steal her away from his co-worker Tim (James Kyson Lee, Heroes). Meanwhile, Bob, Jimmy’s nephew and bunk bed-mate (newcomer Justin Kwong) harbors a secret talent that holds the key to rekindling the passion in his parents’ marriage. Hilarious and heartwarming, White on Rice is a Japanese-American comic treat.

Needless to say, Jimmy made me laugh. Therefore, I will be keeping an eye out for this film as it rolls toward a limited release on September 11, 2009. For more, check out the trailer over at Apple.com.

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