Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Jon Avnet

Writers (WGA):

Fannie Flagg (novel)
Fannie Flagg (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

27 December 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy

Tagline:

The secret of life? The secret's in the sauce.

Plot:

A housewife who is unhappy with her life befriends an old lady in a nursing home and is enthralled by the tales she tells of people she used to know.

Plot Keywords:

Nursing Home | Friendship | 1920s | Alabama | Stories

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Kathy Bates	...	Evelyn Couch
Mary Stuart Masterson	...	Idgie Threadgoode
Mary-Louise Parker	...	Ruth Jamison
Jessica Tandy	...	Ninny Threadgoode
Cicely Tyson	...	Sipsey
Chris O'Donnell	...	Buddy Threadgoode
Stan Shaw	...	Big George
Gailard Sartain	...	Ed Couch
Timothy Scott	...	Smokey Lonesome (as Tim Scott)
Gary Basaraba	...	Grady Kilgore
Lois Smith	...	Mama Threadgoode
Jo Harvey Allen	...	Women's Awareness Teacher
Macon McCalman	...	Prosecutor Percy
Richard Riehle	...	Reverend Scroggins
Raynor Scheine	...	Sheriff Curtis Smoote

Also Known As:

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (UK)

Runtime:

130 min | 137 min (extended version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:L | UK:PG (video re-rating) | South Korea:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M (cable rating) | Australia:PG (original rating) | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Germany:6 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | Norway:10

Filming Locations:

Agnes Scott College - 141 E. College Avenue, Decatur, Georgia, USA

Company:

Act III Communications

Trivia:

Fannie Flagg, who wrote the screenplay and the renowned book the movie was based on, "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe," is best known as a panelist on the 1970's game show "Match Game PM" (1975). She was born in Alabama, where the book is set, and is now a celebrated author of Southern-genre writing, in the vein of Margaret Mitchell and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): In the beginning of the movie when Ed and Evelyn are lost at the Whistle Stop searching for their Aunt Vesta's retirement home and are looking on the map, Ed mistakenly calls Evelyn "Ruth".

Quotes:

Grady Kilgore: Ruth, I have to say. I believe Idgie's been a bad influence on you.
Ruth: I agree!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Simpsons: The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons (#9.7)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

Cherish

What An Authentic Flavor This Film Has

The twenty year friendship between two young women in the early twentieth century American South is the focus of this 1991 film from director Jon Avnet. Told in flashbacks, the story adopts a modern POV, with social empowerment being the theme. As such, the story is both unusual and unexpected, given its historical time frame. Viewers will be disappointed if they expect a more traditional Southern story ... about some dark, sinister secret emotionally repressed, and set among the lazy willows and old Magnolia trees.

Empowerment can be a wonderful thing. But, if it is taken to extremes, as it is in two subplots, one involving Frank Bennett, and the other involving Evelyn Couch, then it can be a cause for concern. And that's my main problem with this film. The subplots tend to lack credibility, although they do not detract from the overall character study of Idgie and Ruth.

What was most impressive to me was the film's atmospheric "flavor". Production design, set decoration, and costumes all sparkle with such vitality and detail, that you really feel like you're back in the rural South of the 1920's.

Most modern films pander to youth. To its everlasting credit, "Fried Green Tomatoes" features the wisdom of an elderly character, played by Jessica Tandy, in a nursing home. An added bonus of the film is Kathy Bates, whose acting is always first-rate.