Book of Rules

Running time: 107 mins

San Jose director Sung H. Kim artfully uses Bay Area locations to take us into the lives of three Asian/Pacific-American childhood friends at a time when they are each struggling with their separate identities and what, if anything, they wish to achieve with their lives. Blue is an Asian-American twenty-something coasting along in life: a bike messenger in San Francisco by day and working the counter at a cafe at night. His roommates and best friends are Michael, a Silicon Valley type yuppie, and Bounce, a professional student who is happy just to be stoned 24 hours a day. When beautiful, yet mysterious, Athena comes into the caf?, she arouses Blue's interest and leads him to question his lack of ambition. And when Blue discovers Michael is cheating on Faye, to whom Blue has felt a special closeness for years, he is confronted with his own loyalties and ethics. In the meantime, Jenny, a perky waitress/unemployed actress who lives next door, wants to break into this tight knit group and tries to connect with Bounce and get him out of his purple haze. Book of Rules is a comedy-drama told in the same way that the small stories in real life slowly but inevitably unfold, especially those stories of close friends who grow, change, and ultimately drift apart. - Sandy Wolf