Brittany Murphy in The Ramen Girl [movies, video]

December 21, 2009, 7:00 am 2 Comments

brittany-murphy-the-ramen-chef-movie

Brittany Murphy (RIP) starred in the 2008 film The Ramen Girl (Amazon), playing Abby, an American dumped by her boyfriend in Tokyo who finds her true calling: to make ramen. Brittany Murphy was actually pretty well-cast as a whiny privileged expat determined to learn the way of the noodle from the tyrannical master ramen chef Maezumi, intensely played by Toshiyuki Nishida, a celebrated Japanese actor.

The film is not nearly as bad as being released direct-to-DVD implies. While there are some funny scenes and relatively poignant (albeit brief) musings about the artistry of ramen and emotions, the film is a little uneven at parts (unnecessary subplots, secondary characters that are completely abandoned story-wise, forced romance, loose ties, a somewhat bizarre ending). It's also a little dark: the despondent ramen chef worrying about who is to be his successor after 45 years of daily labor. It's no cinematic masterpiece, but we'd argue that the whole self-discovery-through-food metaphors here are sometimes more charming and effective than those found in the Julie part of Julie & Julia. Here are a few (some might say "spoiler-ish") selected scenes and the original trailer:

Video: The Ramen Girl Trailer

Video: The Ramen Girl: Brittany Murphy Puts Up Christmas Decorations, Gets Yelled At

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Video: The Ramen Girl: Brittany Murphy Fails, Frustrates

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Video: The Ramen Girl: Brittany Murphy Learns About The Way of The Noodle

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—Raphael Brion

Earlier on Eat Me Daily

Tags: Brittany Murphy, Japan, movies, noodles, ramen, The Ramen Girl, Videos

2 Comments

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Dave

I haven't seen this movie, but it reminds me a bit of Tampopo, a 1980-something Japanese movie, because of serious both movies are when it comes to ramen.

Tampopo: A Japenese-truck-driver version of Clint Eastwood rolls into a town and with his now-homeless former-noodle-sensei teaches Tampopo the true art of ramen. How can you beat that?

December 21, 2009, 11:22 am Reply
Rudy

I saw it and was wish it was half as good as Tampopo. This move was just bad. I don't blame the actors. I feel so sorry that this young lady has died at such a young age. My heart goes out to her family.

December 21, 2009, 5:44 pm Reply