The Ramen Girl

The Ramen Girl

The Ramen Girl (2008)

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Brittany Murphy told her director she had only ever been hired to play cute or crazy. She doubted she could do anything else. So they established a private code.

He would call out "C1" when she drifted toward cute, "C2" when she tipped into crazy. With this secret language director Robert Allan Ackerman steered her, take by take, toward something that nobody had ever asked of her.

In THE RAMEN GIRL (2008), Murphy plays Abby, an American who follows her boyfriend to Tokyo and is promptly abandoned there, alone in a city whose language she cannot speak.

She wanders into a neighborhood ramen shop, drowns her sorrows in a bowl of soup, and decides on the spot that she will learn to make ramen. The gruff restaurant owner wants nothing to do with her. Neither understands a word the other says.

The film is sweet and earnest, about a woman flailing toward a purpose that everyone, including herself, doubts she can reach.

This was one of the last films Brittany Murphy finished. She died in December 2009, at 32.

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Co-produced by independent studio Media 8 Entertainment and Japan's Digital Site Corporation. Warner Bros. handled its initial theatrical and physical release in Japan, while Image Entertainment managed its distribution in the United States, where it bypassed a wide theatrical run and went straight-to-DVD.

About the Film

Her romance is on pins and noodles.

Directed By
Robert Allan Ackerman
Runtime
102 minutes
Released
February 8, 2008
Certification
PG-13
Country
Japan, United States of America
Starring
Brittany Murphy, Tammy Blanchard, Gabriel Mann, Toshiyuki Nishida, Soji Arai
More Credits
Genres
Romance, Comedy, Drama
Language
Japanese, English
Origin
US
Studios
Media 8 Entertainment
Written By
Becca Topol
Produced By
Robert Allan Ackerman, Michael Eliasberg, Stewart Hall, Kimio Kataoka, Cleve Landsberg, Brittany Murphy, Yoko Narahashi, Masafumi Odawara
Cinematography
Yoshitaka Sakamoto
Music
Carlo Siliotto
Also Starring
Kimiko Yo, Renji Ishibashi, Akiko Monou, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Takaki Uda
Budget
$3,200,000
Box Office
$179,590

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  5. character actors/actresses run the risk of being typecast just like the big star lead does, but it can be even more frustrating and limiting I’d imagine. She was a very talented performer and really didn’t get broad opportunities while she was in Hollywood. It’s terribly unfair to punish someone for being good at a particular bit or archetype by trapping them there.

  13. This is such a sweet little soulful film. Brittany is so good in it, and does indeed show a subtlety and range not found in all of her performances. (Then again, the character and material were also more nuanced and complex than some of her other films.)

    I always loved Brittany as an actress, and The Ramen Girl remains a treasured hidden gem – a bittersweet glimpse at the different kinds of performances she had in store for us in the future. RIP, Miss Murphy 😢

  49. I had such a huge crush on her back in the day. She was beautiful and a talented actress. I would have loved to see her grow over the years into deeper roles and overcome the problems in her personal life. It horrible that she died so young. Rest in Peace.

  58. This was truly one of the best films I have ever seen. I didn’t expect much of it when I sat down to watch it on a whim, but I was so glad I watched it and then I watched bits of it again. She was so underrated on such a tragic loss.

  68. I love this movie so much. She had so much more to live for 😔 We never got to see her full acting potential, she was just starting to break into more complex rolls. I will miss her forever.

  76. I’ve seen her in more things than I realised; I have a soft spot for the film Drive (1997) and that is where I most remember her, definitely one of the crazy performances, with a rouch of cute. But this film sounds very interesting

  83. He knew she was capable of so much more and gave her the opportunity to show the world. We need to give more credit to directors who offer actors an opportunity to break out of the stereotypes other directors clung to. She was fiercely talented.

  89. I really love this movie. A young women, a stranger in a strange land, builds a life for herself. Some guy doesn’t come save her she saves herself. She puts in the work she doesn’t give up. She find her path.

  145. One of my favorites and she was just getting her career really started :,( I miss her so much. One of a kind gone too soon. And her death and her husbands are both a still such a mystery of obvious foul play…

  148. She’s one of my favorite parts about “Drop Dead Gorgeous,” but she is both very cute and very crazy in that film. Bless her, though, what a talent. I’m so glad she got to experience something different and showcase her gifts.

  157. This film was truly incredible. I mean, it was so good. I blame her husband. She never should have married him. He kept her from being treated, it was all him. He even caught pneumonia and passed away, because he didn’t go see a doctor. A perfectly treatable illness and his craziness is what took them both out. My heart breaks for her. He isolated her, hose her projects and insisted on doing her hair and makeup on all the movies she was going. He controlled everything and the evidence and proof of this is the victims he had left in his wake. They managed to survive, but barely. Britney may be gone, but she will never be forgotten

  169. I’m convinced that every entrepreneur should watch this movie. It portrays nuances in cultural differences. Yes Japanese vs American culture, but with Ramen preparation as an art specifically… He’s trying to impart his wisdom and skill to her because she specifically asked him to and he tells her to keep the bathroom and the kitchen clean… He tries to teach her to notice smells and textures and she keeps oversimplifying the process of making Ramen. At the end she fails to be his successor of his shop, but when she comes back to the US, she’s Ramen Girl with her own shop.

  174. This is one of my absolute favorite movies!! I am a bit sad though that every version that I’ve found since I first saw it, including my DVD copy, has the TV censored version where they dubbed over certain words so it no longer matches the lips. Which is a very weird choice for a DVD. It makes me question if the DVD that I have is authentic. Does anyone have a DVD copy that is uncensored? I fear the uncensored version may become lost media otherwise since it wasn’t a popular movie when it came out. 😢

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