Fried Green Tomatoes Collector's Edition (1991)

"Enjoyable story-within-a-story film... First-rate adaptation of Fannie Flagg's novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe...  Leonard Maltin

Editor's Note Academy Award winners Kathy Bates and Jessica Tandy star with Mary Stuart Masterson and Mary-Louise Parker in this comic, heartwarming tale of family, friendship and murder in rural Georgia. In a Southern nursing home, a feisty resident and old local fixture named Ninny Threadgoode (Tandy) befriends Evelyn Couch (Kathy Bates) a depressed housewife and stirs her to action with an inspirational tale. She tells the story of a transcendent friendship between two young women living in Georgia in the 1930s, Idgie Threadgoode (Mary Stuart Masterson) and Ruth (Mary Louise Parker), who forge a powerful bond after witnessing a terrible tragedy together. The two women open a cafe (where fried green tomatoes are a house specialty) together in their small Southern town of Whistle Stop and manage to survive the hardships of life, despite racism, prejudice and the pressures of trying to live their lives as individuals in a strict and close-minded Southern society. Their friendship lasts through many ups and downs over the years, helping one of the women through an abusive marriage, and buoying both of them through the gossip and jealousy of those small-minded people who try to control their lives. Based on Fannie Flagg's best-selling novel FRIED GREEN TOMATOES AT THE WHISTLE STOP CAFE.

	Jessica Tandy
	Kathy Bates
	Mary Stuart Masterson
	Mary-Louise Parker
	Fannie Flagg - Based on Novel By
	Jon Avnet - Director
	Jon Avnet - Producer

Rolling Stone
"...Jessica Tandy is glorious..." 01/23/1992 p.50

Sight and Sound
"...Handsomely mounted, engagingly performed...[and] wrapped around with an ingratiating score by Thomas Newman..." 03/01/1992 p.56

Los Angeles Times
"...A folksy enigma....Blessed with a number of out-of-the-ordinary performances....Both Tandy and Masterson bring a similar amount of sass and skill to their very watchable performances..." 12/27/1991 p.F1

James Berardinelli's ReelViews 8 of 10
Because of its strong sense of character development, Fried Green Tomatoes touches a plethora of emotional chords. At times, it is gritty and inspirational, while still maintaining enough comedy to offset the less-comfortable instances of emotional upheaval. For mystery-lovers, there's even a murder thrown in. - James Berardinelli