The Ramen Girl

The Ramen Girl has been on my radar for a while, but for whatever reason, I had not sat down with a warm bowl of ramen and watched it. Well, the nasty weather last Monday gave me that chance. I tell myself I do not like Brittany Murphy, but that being said, I have seen almost all her movies. I think I'm confused. For a girl who is portrayed as an airhead, she sure has a lot of depth. This is the second movie I have seen where she grew up, had a lot of heart, and showed grace and love to those around her. This movie is the wonderful story of a girl who is lost and finds her inner strength and self.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0806165/

After being abandoned by her jerk boyfriend in Tokyo, she finds her self in a Ramen Shop owned by a couple. Here she is given compassion by the wife and sarcasm from the husband. In a wonderfully written love/hate relationship, both the sensai and student find the inner person that they lost. This movie is a new favorite of mine. The Japanese is in subtitles, as you can see above. However, the majority of the movie is in English. Those parts that are in Japanese add to the movie and do not distract.

Violence, Sex, and Language:

Many objects are thrown at this poor girl; boxes, soup ladles, rags, food, etc. The Ramen Shop owner and sensai has a temper. One of Abby's friends ends up with a black eye (scene not shown) as a result of her line of work. There really isn't room for violence in a story about noodles. :)

Violence: 0 out of 5

The main character Abby has two boyfriends during this movie. Both have bedroom scenes, but not horribly revealing ones. Also, Abby runs out into the road wearing only a towel, but it's more heartbreaking than anything else.

Sex: 2 1/2 out of 5

A favorite phrase of the Ramen Shop owner is "What the H---!?!". He says this many, many times. Nothing else comes to mind.

Language: 1 out of 5

End point: This is a wonderful heartfelt movie that shows how love goes beyond the language we speak to each other. Love is action and the inner spirit of a person, which as a Christian, I have through Christ. If you haven't given this movie a chance, please reconsider.
~Sarah