Fried Green Tomatoes Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
The secret of life? The secret's in the sauce.
Evelyn Couch is having trouble in her marriage, and no one seems to take her seriously. While in a nursing home visiting relatives, she meets Ninny Threadgoode, an outgoing old woman, who tells her the story of Idgie Threadgoode, a young woman in 1920's Alabama. Through Idgie's inspiring life, Evelyn learns to be more assertive and builds a lasting friendship of her own with Ninny.
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Jon Avnet |
7.40 out of 10 (19225 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Fried Green Tomatoes = ...
posted on 28 Jul 2009A story of friendship and strength.This is my favorite movie of all time. The characters are lovable and the story, unforgettable.This is about a housewife, Evelyn, who is beginning to think her marriage and life is over; Ninny, an old woman who loves life and always looks on the bright side; Idgie, a rambunctious person who always does some secret doing to help out another; Ruth, Idgie's best friend; and all the residents of the town of Whistlestop. It tells of different things, mainly about the murder of Frank Bennet, Ruth's husband.It will leave you going away with a good feeling, and unlike most movies, it sticks with you.If you ever need a movie to watch or something to do, pop this one in. You will never regret a viewing of this movie.
A hearty slice of American history and feminism.
posted on 17 May 2009To say that "Fried Green Tomatoes" is the best chick flick ever made would be true, but at the same time it would be a huge misrepresentation of a great story with serious messages for everyone.The best thing about this movie is the way it captures the essence of the American south, for better or worse. Small town people were confused and beautiful at once in the 1940's and no film I've seen besides maybe "In The Heat of the Night" paints that picture a well as "Fried Green Tomatoes." I think the lesbian undertones here are shown very realistically and tastefully unlike many other films where lesbians are portrayed as man-bashing brutes, this film shows the tender side of the friendships that often spawn relationships beyond friendship. The two main characters are caught in a time and place where that is impossible to display but they manage to be happy.The story weaves together traditional Southern values with modern American women's issues and guess what? A modern woman would learn a whole lot about what it means to be strong and independent from the lessons of an old southern belle.Absolutely essential viewing that is too often overlooked, if you're looking for a chick flick to watch with your girlfriend or wife that won't put you to sleep or make you need a shot of Jack Daniels afterwards to feel like a man again, "Fried Green Tomatoes" is your best bet.9 out of 10, kids.
This movie is a bittersweet tale of love and loyalty
posted on 08 May 2009This story is a poignant tale of love and loss and it surrounds the friendship of two young women from the past as told to another woman in the future by the surviving friend. The story includes the developing relationship between the women sharing this story in their own twist of fate. It also shows the growing independence of the woman who is being told this story. She develops into a strong person in her own right. This is the female version of the loving friendship between David and Jonathan in the Bible. This kind of intimacy in friendship is not that rare among women. There is nothing to suggest a sexual relationship except in the mind of someone who is perverted in their thinking. If this was written about two men you might assume something immoral. Men are not usually as close in their relationships as women.
Southern-fried tripe
posted on 21 Mar 2009Writer Fannie Flagg's idea of a tough, rebellious young woman is one who smokes, plays poker in a gin mill with rowdies, and wears men's clothes (she swears too, and is unafraid of bees). The point of Flagg's book/screenplay seems to be that being 'nice' and 'good' doesn't get you anywhere (wasn't that the point of "Grease" as well?). This is just an example of how southern-stereotypical and trite "Fried Green Tomatoes" is. It hasn't an ounce of substance or spontaneity, and, frankly, the performances are mediocre at best. It will surely entertain fans of those Hallmark-produced TV specials, as it incorporates the same weaknesses: coziness in place of grit, ninnyisms as homilies, and caricatures substituting for characters. ** from ****
magnetic power of love
posted on 06 Mar 2009I have watched FGT a lot of times. I've searched the book on which it was based. Recently I was in London, bought it. They asked me if I wanted the script for the movie, or the original book. I took the original. Read it. Well, everything was in place after I read the book. Someone here wrote: "no one falls in love" in the movie. Than on other place: "and please give up with discussing on the friendship type between the 2 girls, can't you imagine just love without sex for a minute?". Yes, I can imagine that, but it is still love, and not only friendship. And in the original book it says: Idgie had a crush on Ruth! And it says, Ruth fell in love with Idgie the minute Idgie gave her the jar with honey, and whispered in her ears: "You're a bee charmer", while Idgie was lying in her lap. This is not a spoiler, since you can not find this in the movie. But this is the bottom line: the two women fell in love with each other, there may never have been sex between them, but there would have been if they have lived in 80's, (like Bates' character) and not in the 30' somewhere on rural south! And that is the magnetic power, the real secret of that movie, the real secret why we love it. IT IS A LOVE STORY.
Leaving a message...
posted on 19 Feb 2009There's no other way to put it; there are films that just make you feel good. These films are reasonably called 'feel good' movies; you may watch them and have a good time and a week later forget everything about them: "In Good Company" comes to mind. Other films also make you feel good but also leave an impression, because of the memorable characters they contain and you want to keep close to your heart: "Barbershop" is the perfect example. But there are also 'feel good' movies that break their own rule, scratch the surface looking for something more and they find it: leaving a message. Jon Avnet's "Fried Green Tomatoes" tells a straight story, the one David Lynch waited so many years to tell. Based on a book by Fannie Flagg, the movie introduces us to Evelyn Couch (a sensational Kathy Bates), a woman who's having a mid-life crisis and who's visiting his husband Ed's (Gailard Sartain) aunt at a nursing home. But this aunt doesn't like her, throws things at her and she has to sit outside and wait. And there comes an 83-year-old lady who seems so full of life that we envy her. This is Ninny Threadgoode, played by Jessica Tandy as the most caring, comprehensive, friendly, lovable woman you could meet. It's from her that we learn the main story, in a movie that contains many stories. Because everyone has a story, and sometimes two people share the same story, and nobody can imagine them in different contexts, like Idgie (Mary Stuart Masterson) and Ruth (Mary-Louise Parker). In two fantastic performances that depend on each other, Masterson plays Idgie as a rebellious girl who slowly understands what true love and being mature means; while Parker's work represents exactly the opposite. At first, we see Ruth as a quiet lady (always a lady) who follows the Bible's rules by heart and, over the years, she seems to let go, and while never forgetting her values, starts to live a little more freely and holding on to the ones who love her the most.These aren't stereotypes, but basic descriptions, sketches, of two characters that will helplessly grow on you as they grow on each other with time; and of their story, which I want to let you discover. Making use of a classic resource as narration, Avnet lets Tandy's character take us back in time to Ruth and Idgie's world. It's a beautiful world, a beautiful little town and a beautiful Café where these women serve fried green tomatoes that Avnet also displays and shoots classically. The music, by Thomas Newman, is also classic, non- intrusive in a sense.So there's no risk in what we see on screen, and no risk in the story either; the tale is predictable and the 'intrigue' plot-line it contains could have been resolved differently. But Avnet risks everything in one aspect, and that's where his movie succeeds. He utterly trusts his main actors (his four main actresses, more accurately) in the creation of the characters I told you about; and they respond, making every word sound true. That's why we don't question that characters tell the same story three times and nothing feels clichéd, that's why the connection that Evelyn has with two people she never met is intensely real. You may wonder, after all this, what the message I'm talking about is. It's quite simple actually: that friendship conquers all, friendship beats all odds; the friends we meet along the way make us who we are. There are so many films that struggle so hard to get that simple message through and it never happens. "Fried Green Tomatoes" achieves it and still kindly leaves some things unsaid for us to meditate; and it makes us feel good, and it makes us want to eat these fried green tomatoes, whatever they are.
It'll make you laugh, it'll make you cry.
posted on 13 Feb 2009This is my all time favorite movie. One goes through all the motions, from laughing to crying, the scenery and harmony of the intermingling storylines are enchanting. Mary Stuart Masterson and Marie-Louise Parker are absolutely wonderful together and Kathy Bates is excellent as usual.
Warm Loving Story
posted on 12 Nov 2008I don't want to say much, but if you like a good warm story, lovable characters and a nice movie, this is the one.Each character and casts contribute much for this movie and it's like adding their part in warming up and cooking the green tomatoes.The story is good, the casts are excellent, even the soundtracks are nice.It's a perfect movie for your holiday. Come and see it!
Pretentious
posted on 09 Nov 2008To me this movie was nothing special. It is a failed dramady with an easy to follow formula and a very melodramatic plot. Did anybody seriously not see the ending coming? While people might say that the predictability might add to the movie's "charms", I disagree. i doubt it was intentional. The Evelyn Couch story line was utterly pointless except to give the story a reason to be told. The filmmakers tried to add humor to the Couch's situation but it failed miserably. The overload of drama made each "twist" less exciting than the one before. It failed to make me cry, I cry in pretty much everything, and I couldn't care less what happened to any character at the end. While Jessica Tandy was phenomenal, the only true shining performance, the rest of the cast fell flat. Most flashback movies don't work. They don't bring the story to life and it is very distracting to go from one time period to another. Very few films have ever made that work, and this is not one of them. What attempted to be a great cinematic experience simply turned into a pretentious, overrated dud.
No brag , just fact - a #10!
posted on 01 Oct 2008This movie took me "back home" to such wonderful memories of Alabama/Georgia. It should have won at least ten Academy Awards. The casting was perfection right down to the children's parts. When George first stirred that pot "the next mornin'" I screamed then - I already knew the secret was in the sauce. If I'm ever in a nursing home I pray to have a friend like Evelyn Couch. Fannie Flagg hit the peak with her book and kept the movie true to the story. The scenes and details of those days in the south were so good you could smell the barbecue. Thanks to this movie I can say that I voted myself into the Tawanda club and have stayed there ever since!
The Ultimate
posted on 10 Sep 2008This is such an awesome movie. I remember watching it as a girl, and when I found it in a clearance bin a few months ago, I jumped on it. I watched it then, and now, having watched it again... Mary Stuart Masterson is AMAZING.
Tears fall unwittingly down my cheeks during her performance. I was also enchanted by Mary-Louise Parker, and I always always LOVE Kathy Bates.
Jessica Tandy is also her usual fit self, and Cecily Tyson was great ("Shoo!
I ain't scared of you!") and I could go on for ages about all of them.I will admit that this is the Ultimate Chick Flick. That title, however, does not detract from its overall quality. The men are more than just caricatures, and the nostalgia and love of the book made its way into the movie. I have to commend Avnet for his efforts.And now that I am out of intelligent things to say, THIS MOVIE ROCKS MY SOCKS! It's re-watchability and great everything make this the movie (along with Love and Basketball and my Buffy DVDs) that I take with me to college and suggest we watch at every opportunity.
Three girls' best of youth
posted on 04 Sep 2008Lovely, delightful. These two adjectives are the best to explain what I feel every time I see Fried Green Tomatoes.To be a man, FGT is an exciting voyage inside female minds. The cast is made essentially by female girls and women, with their insecurities and need to love. Kathy Bates is adorable, very far from the evil Annie in Misery !! She's a frustrated middle-aged woman, Evelyn, living with a careless husband, without directions and a reason to live. One day, at the hospice, she finds a nice old woman, becomes her friend and starts listening to a breathtaking story (in third person) about a simple restaurant at the train station where good girls served tasteful fried green tomatoes, in the 1930s.It's more than just a gossip story. The simple, genuine youth of these girls is more enviable than millions others. Life was hard those years, too little rights for women were acknowledged yet, and this movie insists on this theme, but everything is balanced with a (even involuntary!) spontaneous humor, never fading inside pure feminism or inappropriate fields. Furthermore, the way it's edited, mixing the narrated story with amusing sketches of today (the scene at supermarket parking is memorable!), grows in us the same interesting of Evelyn in the story and the characters it's populated of. Nothing happens simplifying or sweetening reality, no, Avnet doesn't look for shortcuts. The story is essentially sad and has a surprisingly grotesque implications (do you know what I mean ?!) you'll never expect. Idgie personifies the will to live, beyond difficulties and odds, arousing then Evelyn's admiration. She realized to be a "Ruth" and wanted to become a "Idgie" with her husband, finding the strength to change.Good for the whole family, I hope you'll find it great (and with a better soundtrack could have been greater) as it's for me.
A good and warmhearted movie
posted on 08 Aug 2008This film is one of my favorites. Kathy Bates plays a kind lady, Evelyn, who has problems with her husband. She meets the very kind old woman Ninny at the hospital and they starts to talk and Ninny tell Evelyn the memories from her past. In the End of the movie they have a very good relation to each other. But it's not only good and positive things in the story...watch the film now and you will have to dry off some tears of your cheek...
**************SPOILER************************
posted on 21 Jun 2008I read the book 2-3 years before the movie came out. It remains as one of my favorite books. So I was eagerly awaiting the movie although I realized the book was too complex to completely transfer to film. I had high hopes. I was not disappointed. The actors were brilliant. Although I wish more characters from the book had made it into the move. ie: Big Georges wife and I would have loved to see the Naughty-bird/elephant story in the film. It would also given a better insight to Idgie's and Big Georges relationship.If I had not read the book I would have still loved the movie but having read the book I was truly disappointed in the ending of the movie. To lead viewers to believe Ninny was really Idgie is disrespectful of both characters. Ninny was a wonderful character by herself. Everyone who did not read the book must wonder at the story Ninny told Evelyn about her mentally retarded son Alfred. Also If you look closely Jessica Tandy appears as Ninny in one of the cafe scenes. Idgie actually serves her a plant of fried green tomatoes. I also don't believe they actually served pieces of bar-b-qued Frank Bennett to the investigator. I think they just cooked him up with the rest of the meat. At least I like to think so. All in all a wonderful movie but read the book and get a real insight into all the wonderful characters.
As good as it gets.
posted on 18 Jun 2008This movie might easily pass you by. It's quirky, long-winded title suggests something arty or perhaps comical in a needlessly pretentious way. Well; it is arty, and it is often funny, but there isn't a particle of pretentiousness. I got to see it only because my newspaper included it as a free DVD in the weekend issue. But for that, I might still be in ignorance now.It seems incredible that something so wonderful can be had for nothing.Kathy Bates plays the role of a mature but still comparatively young woman who has a marriage going nowhere. Her husband has reached the point where he just doesn't seem to care any more. Actually, it's not that he doesn't care; he just hasn't noticed how bad things have got. Like so many couples, they have just let themselves slip into a rut.However; she has noticed, and means to do something about it. When hints, make-overs and candlelit dinners prove inadequate, she finds unexpected inspiration in a feisty old woman called Ninny Threadgoode.This woman - played by Jessica Tandy - dilates upon her past, and in particular, a friendship between two young women called Idgie and Ruth (Mary Stuart Masterson and Mary Louise Parker). The movie then shifts between the present-day circumstances of an increasingly emancipated wife, and the flashback reminiscences of her inspiration.Some have rather misguidedly referred to this movie as a 'chick-flick' as if it were dedicated to a female audience or in some way espoused the cause of feminism. Such opinions do a disservice. To see it in this light, because the principal parts are female, is like dismissing 'The Shawshank Redemption' as a male 'buddy' movie. Both are about two people who's enduring friendship unites them against adversity. Lesbian love is barely hinted at.Director, Jon Aunet has created a spellbinding work. It has a wonderful, lyrical fidelity, like a Renoir painting, whereby the few moments of comedy appear as small, flagrant brush-strokes in an otherwise pastel completeness. There are moments of heartbreaking and tender subtlety when Thomas Newman's music score expresses human feeling more fluently than the spoken word.Sound-engineers seldom receive the recognition they deserve. All too easily we take the ambiance of the moment completely for granted. Viewers should pay particular attention to the authenticity of this movie, and marvel. The dreary interior of an unhappy home or the mildness of a sunlit summer-evening carry such authentic presence that one can almost feel the chill of anger, the sweetness of the season.Some have found fault with this movie somewhere. I confess to being too lachrymose to see anything other than the director's intentions. Excellent script, flawless acting, impeccably chosen music and ambiance to reach out and touch.This is a truly redeeming experience. Amongst the spoil-heaps of formulaic Hollywood wretchedness, gems like this help remind us that humanity is still worth caring about.The detail of life is what really gives us meaning.
A point of view from Europe
posted on 31 May 2008All the emotions are in this movie, brought up by a magnificent cast, a strong and a subtle story, a brilliant editing, perfectly balanced between past/present, funny/sad scenes, and a beautiful photography highlighted by a superb and appropriate music.Those who despised FGT with their unkind and unfair comments are probably the ones who make a success of action-special FX galore-poor script blockbusters that invade us worldwide. American movies can be also different (open your mind please!). You have the right not to like it, but be respectful to the talent of both the director and the actors/actresses, it is mostly excessive to use words such "trash" or "worst movie ever".Though a little less strong than "The color purple" (one of my favorite in the genre) on the racism issue and less cliché than "Beaches" (another of my top 10 movies)on the friendship subject, FGT is a gem of a movie to make you that there are more important things than money, as long you have friends, love, and confidence in you. **spoiler*** Why bother about the end? Make your own opinion with your imagination (I prefer to think Ninny WAS Idgie; look at her malicious smile just before Evelyne asks "Idgie? (Ninny's nodding)Idgie's alive?). And please give up with discussing on the friendship type between the 2 girls, can't you imagine just love without sex for a minute? (and I AM French!!)
A warm story like a cup of tea on sunny Sunday afternoon
posted on 22 May 2008I got to knew this movie when it's shown on TV. I didn't watch it carefully in the beginning as it's interrupted by ADs quite often. But I was moved right in the middle and couldn't help loving this movie.Then I read some reviews here and learned it is based on a book named "fried green tomatoes at the whistle stop café" .I read the book recently and I would say there is a little difference between the book and the movie, but both of them are great. It makes me love the life in Alabama, quiet and peaceful and lovely. The book tells more about the story but you can get moved by the movie as well.I definitely suggest you rent it and watch it with some girl friends on Sunny afternoon. (I guess girls may love the movie more)I also strongly recommend you to read the book. It's awesome and makes me cry.
Solid performances, not so sure about the rest...
posted on 30 Aug 2009I saw this movie a while ago, and thought it was enjoyable, but I had some issues with it as well. The leads did a good job, and the mood and scenery was atmospheric. Most of the characters were pretty one-dimensional though. And the really weird thing about this movie was the fate of the abusive husband, and especially Cathy Bates' reaction when hearing about it. "Oh, you got rid of his body through cannibalism? Hahahaha! Good job!" He was an abusive idiot, sure. But killing and eating him for it? Wow.The way I prefer to see this movie is as a macabre piece of southern Gothic thinly disguised as a feel-good chick flick.