‘Ramen’ more like Campbell’s

By Julie Brown-Micko

Mom knew that a hot bowl of chicken noodle could fix what ails you. And if you’re far from home, maybe someone else’s soup can do the trick. So says The Ramen Girl, a romantic comedy featuring an American girl and a miraculous bowl of noodles.

Waifish naïf Abby (Brittany Murphy) travels to Tokyo to be with her American boyfriend who promptly dumps her. Down-at-heart, she notices the swirl of light, life and mouthwatering fragrance from a nearby noodle shop. The gruff owner takes pity on the girl who is a blubbering mess and serves her a hot bowl of ramen. The nourishing soup restores her sanity and provides her a new goal in life: learn to cook ramen. Despite a language and cultural divide deeper and wider than the Pacific Ocean, she manages to apprentice herself to the tough and legendary chef Maezumi (Toshiyuki Nishida).

This food movie has all the ingredients, but the flavors don’t blend. A by-the-numbers love affair with the handsome young businessman Toshi (Sohee Park), is, of course, necessary for the romance part of this movie, but feels tacked on. A few brief interludes with a British expat (Daniel Evans) and Southern call girl (Tammy Blanchard) are unnecessary and distracting. Our real interest is with the charismatic Maezumi. Even our heroine, Abby, fades in comparison to the rough master of the noodle shop.

A few sublime moments bring the story to life. Maezumi’s ramen so infused with love, causes Abby and a depressed businessman to burst into uncontrollable giggles at the counter. Maezumi facing down his fellow chefs at the market in defense of Abby gives him heroism, honor and depth. The penultimate scene featuring the Grand Master of Ramen (played by Tsutomu Yamazaki, who starred in Tanpopo, the ultimate noodle movie) revels in high drama with a wink, a nod, and plenty of humor.

But it’s difficult to get behind Murphy as a legitimate disciple of ramen-making. While her winsome ways work for romantic comedy, she has the look (with those big eyes and pipe-stem limbs) and the dramatic weight of an anime character. The clichéd premise that culinary success comes when one cooks “from the heart” and “with pure love” is shopworn and dull. There’s just too much glitter and not enough genuine grit to make the story interesting.

While some parts of this movie entertain, it’s clumsy, thin and uneven. The Ramen Girl is more Campbell’s soup than authentic Japanese ramen.