Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)

I don’t like tomatoes. Tomatoes are absolutely my least favorite food that I have had the displeasure of eating. Needless to say, I have avoided this film. Brian suggested it, so here I am.

This is basically Big Fish before Big Fish in a lot of ways. The way the stories are told, it’s a similar dynamic, and that’s a great thing. The story is mostly split between present-day 1980’s and sometime between World War 1 and 2, per Wikipedia. It takes place in Alabama where racism is rampant. Twas a bad time in American history, to say the least. The present-day revolves around Evelyn Couch and Ninny Threadgoode, an old lady in an old folk’s home who likes to spin some yarns. Evelyn is in a marriage that isn’t what you would call great. Ed works, comes home, wants to eat dinner while sitting in front of the TV and not pay much mind or time to Evelyn, and this is the impetus to Evelyn’s character’s development. Through Ninny’s stories, Evelyn empowers herself to not be a doormat and instead take charge and make her own decisions. The other story is the one that takes place in the past that Ninny tells Evelyn about Ingie, Ruth, and the murder of Frank Bennett, who is Ruth’s abusive husband. It’s a really solid story, and you may shed a tear or two at some point in the film. The truly dramatic scenes really do grip at your heartstrings.

I won’t spoil it, but I have to get this off of my chest. Apparently there is discussion over whether Ninny was, in fact, Ingie. While I watched it, I thought it was obvious that they were two in the same, but others dispute it. It’s good to have various interpretations, but really, this is very obvious at the end, in my opinion.

This cast is loaded. This is the film that Kathy Bates starred in after Misery. I must admit, the first hour plus, I kept wanting Kathy Bates to be the bad ass bitch that we all love. I hated seeing her powerless, although that powerless does help the audience want to see her triumph more. Kathy Bates is truly one of the finest actresses out there when given good material to work with. Jessica Tandy played the role of Ninny and was also nominated for awards, along with Kathy. Jessica played the role incredibly well. I haven’t seen much of her work, but this was very good. Mary Stuart Masterson played Ingie, who I thought was the lead in this film. She is the crux of everything. She deserved an award more than anybody. Mary-Louise Parker played the role of Ruth and was also very good given her role. Ingie was the star, but all 4 ladies played their role really well.

There are some side characters that were personal favorites of mine. Big George, played by Stan Shaw, was a guy who I immediately recognized from The Monster Squad. I know it wasn’t big enough to warrant an award, but he was so good. Cicely Tyson played Sipsey, and she didn’t always have many lines, but she played it wonderfully. Richard Riehle of Office Space fame, Mr. jump to conclusions mat, played Ruth’s father, who was a reverend. I am always a fan of his, and this was no different. Chris O’Donnell was in this early on as Buddy and this was some of his best work. I was not really a big fan of a lot of his roles. Timothy Scott was Smokey Lonesome, and he was such a good character. I could have watched him do more. I liked a lot of the characters, which is a great thing. I also want to acknowledge the singing lady in the church toward the end. She was fantastic and provided a nice spark at the end for me. She had a wonderful voice that I could listen to for hours.

By now, you have probably come to the conclusion that I was a fan of this film. My only regret is that I waited this long to see it. I would absolutely watch this one again. I don’t have many complaints on this, and they would be minor. At times you hear the N bomb too frequently, but those were the times. People were absolute morons. I also truly hate the KKK because they are poor representation for white folks. Plus their hats are really stupid. I also want to give props to the youngest version of Ingie. For a child actor, she did really good.

Rating: 7.4 – This was a really good movie. It struck most of the right chords for me. I wish William H Macy was Sheriff Smoote, but he was probably too young for it. Would watch again, alone. That one scene is way too damn sad.

All the pictures used in this blog are for review purposes. They are the property of:

• Universal Pictures (presents)
• Act III Communications
• Avnet/Kerner Productions
• Electric Shadow Productions
• Fried Green Tomatoes Productions

Please go find a copy and support the creators.