Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)

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 | Alabama | 1920s | Friendship | 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

Colour:

Colour

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:

Revealing mistakes: As Idgie gets the honey and puts it in a jar for Ruth you see her wipe off the outside of the jar with the honeycomb inside. However, when she hands the jar to Ruth there is no honeycomb inside the jar.

Quotes:

Ruth: Don't you ever say never to me.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Friday Night Lights: Last Days of Summer (#2.1)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

My Blue Heaven

Not a flaw to be found.

"Fried Green Tomatoes" is memorable for the way that it effectively balances comedy and drama with a large ensemble cast and dual story lines. I like films best when they cover large time frames and many characters. It makes movies feel so alive, like real stories.

The modern story with Kathy Bates and Jessica Tandy confronts many issues of age and feelings of uselessness, whereas the story with Mary Stuart Masterson and Mary-Louise Parker covers issues of youth, marriage, and repressed emotions. All four actresses do superb jobs, and are a joy to watch.

Director Jon Avnet has proved himself to be a good with ensemble drama (The War, Uprising). He holds the picture together with commendable talent I might have expected from the great epic directors of years past.

Recommended for fans of "Forrest Gump", "Driving Miss Daisy", and "Dolores Claiborne".

8.8 out of 10