Udon

This film argues that udon is truly the Japanese soul food (or maybe Japan's ubiquitous fast food). Founded on that premise, UDON ties together the lives and passions of characters who are changed when a local udon fad that sweeps over Japan. When Yosuke Santamaria (Yosuke Matsui), a failed stand up comedian, meets a harried local journalist (Konishi Manami), their chemistry helps fuel a food phenomenon.

The film's basic subject matter is inherently interesting. Eating udon; making udon; salivating over udon. This singlehanded focus captures the fascination for one of Japan's most popular foods. Co-star Konishi Manami adds comic tempo to the mix; she's proved, time and again, to be a compulsively watchable film presence.

The prologue in New York is almost embarrassingly trite, and some of the comic antics are forced - like a fantasy sequence with Yosuke as a masked udon crime-fighter. (Some other sequences are as predictable and hackneyed as it comes.) But as long as udon is being served or eaten, there's magic here.

Or maybe the magic of editing might have done wonders.