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Ramen Girl (2008) Brittany Murphy
Sunday, August 14, 2011
4:15 PM
Labels: brittany murphy , comedy , drama , foreign , japanese , romantic , underdog , 0 comments
Labels: brittany murphy , comedy , drama , foreign , japanese , romantic , underdog , 0 comments
The Links:
IMDB | RottenTomatoes | FilmCritic
Streaming: Amazon, Netflix
Genre: Sweet Small Romantic Comedy with Foreign overtone
STUFF:
PG-13, 1 hr. 42 min.
The Short Story
(Karate Kid meets Like Water for Chocolate)
Anyway, Brittany's character follows worthless boyfriend to Japan and finds kindness from a couple that make ramen soup in their corner restaurant. The 'ramen chef' is an art/science to be achieved and this ramen chef has no son to whom he can pass his legacy. A rival chef will force him to sell, and the Brittany character is a total screw up
Whenever I see "sub-titles," my heart locks up like the brakes on a bad 1972 Ford Pinto. I want to be sophisticated, urbane and hip but let's face it - I'm not. And more often than not - I'm watching this flicks to get away from pressures of life - not the challenge of catching the action on the screen, facial response and still trying to catch the words. It takes commitment.
And the next studio/producer to release a film with WHITE subtitles against a white robe or black subtitles against the inside of a cave should have their Producers Union card revoked, shredded and fed to the Snakes on a Plane.
But I digress. I really, really liked this film.
The Japanese subtitles are probably about 50% of the film but I didnt FEEL like it was much of an effort. There was only one scene between two Japanese characters where I had to actually rewind to catch the dialogue, but that was only because I got distracted by my PDA. (Damnit Sandra Bullock! Quit calling me!! hehe).
I've NEVER been a huge Brittany Murphy fan but had no idea she was capable of this kind of work. She is vulnerable, likeable and although there a few uneven responses - her acting never took me out of the movie. If this movie had been built up as a something as good as NOTTING HILL or something - I probably wouldn't have liked it. But it hit all the right buttons for a small, duck-out-of-water, romantic comedy for me.
What I liked most was the identification with someone who felt like life was screwed up, wouldn't give up (although sometimes even WE don't know why we don't), often we find the kindness and love of others packaged in ways we NEED - rather than what we want.
And for those who need a happy ending - you get it.
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