Tomates verdes fritos

A heartwarming female bonding movie that has all the elements of a good ol' Southern yarn.

It was a good thing that Kathy Bates made this movie so soon after "Misery." She had made such an impression as a psycho in the earlier film that she might have had trouble getting herself out from under the mantle of Annie Wilkes. But she plays a completely different character here, a dowdy, bored housewife who befriends a little old lady forgotten in a retirement home (Jessica Tandy). Tandy begins to tell her the story of a female relative, Idgie Threadgoode, and her deep friendship with Ruth, which is played out in flashback by Mary Stuart Masterson and Mary-Louise Parker. The story is one of those melodramatic, life-affirming ones, but it's acted extremely well by the four women, and the film mostly avoids the treacle that threatens to come pouring in around the edges.

Grade: A-

I have viewed this marvelous film at least 2 dozen times. As with all great movies, you will always catch something "new" with each watching.

If you want to be charmed, enchanted, moved, and find yourself wishing.... This is a film you will cherish.

I won't belabor more than others have written so well. It is a film that resides in my permanent library on my top shelf. When I watch it again, I find myself wishing that I knew the characters personally and somehow find that I do.

This film is one of the only that I esteem. It adds to your life. It hugs the heart and enriches who you are.

I want to thank all the marvelous actors. If they ever wondered why they chose their profession, this film is why.

200 years from now it will be loved and valued. The test of time is guaranteed with Fried Green Tomatoes!

While I love this film, and have seen it a dozen times at least, the maturing of my mind since the first time I saw it as a teen in 1991, have made me take a second look at this stunningly acted film about love, friendship, devotion and racial issues in a multiple decade look at women's roles in society.

Anyone who went to college where I did would see that Idgy from her childhood is the sterotypical Lesbian. She does not like to wear dresses and prefers a man's dress even as a youngster. As she ages, and as Ruth befriends her, she is tantalized by a kiss Ruth gives her on the cheek at the swimming hole and so devastated by Ruth's wedding that she does not even attend but instead drives hours to Valdosta, Georgia to look on hurtfully from the woods at Ruth carried in her new home in her wedding dress.

As the film progresses and Ruth is rescued from her abusive relationship the two start a cafe called Whistle Stop Cafe in Whistle Stop, Alabama. If one watches carefully they'll see that the two live together in a house near the cafe. In one poignant moment, the two women are talking over coffee late at night in the cafe when Ruth says that she feels bad that Idgy may feel she needs to stay and care for Ruth and Buddy Threadgoode Jr. (Buddy is Ruth's son but has Idgy's last name?!) Ruth says that if it weren't for she and Buddy, Idgy may "settle down" Idgy dramatically replies "I am as settled as I am ever going to be" and "I don't want you to move out" The clincher was the image they showed shortly after that scene of Ruth in a feminine dress and Idgy in shorts and a shirt and tie, holding each other and smiling. Idgy never married or dated and Ruth never remarried.

Everyone must come to their own conclusion but mine is two women in the 1930's who enjoy a healthy, loving lesbian relationship with the disguise of business partners in a time and place when different anything race, religion or creed, was just not tolerated or accepted.

Sometimes sad and sometimes amusing, "Fried green tomatoes" is the story of the woman's value. A imaginative and touching film about much things... things about life.

The movie talks about of several women that in spite of a hard and sad life caused by the indifference of people who perhaps never had such a big heart as them, they survive thanks to the love and the understanding.

Besides the beautiful plot, the performances of Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Mary Louise Parker and Mary Stuart Masterson are more than special, are unique, exquisite and of course touching.

"Fried Green Tomatoes" is a little of all. So, don't wait just tears, don't wait just laughs, don't wait just an overflow of feelings. This is not only a drama movie. This movie is more than that.

* Excuse me for mistakes in words.

I am running out of words to describe how good Fried Green Tomatoes was. It may be two or three minutes too long, but other than that, there is very little wrong with this film. The film is amazing to look at, with gorgeous scenery and cinematography, and the score was beautiful. Fried Green Tomatoes also has an intelligent and heart-warming story, strong direction and some charming, funny and touching dialogue as well. The ending was suitably uplifting, but I admit I did shed a tear, mostly because I was so impressed by how beautiful the film was.

Also superb is the acting. Jessica Tandy is absolutely brilliant in this film, and quite rightly received an Oscar nomination. She plays an old-timer in the American South, who tells stories of the bigotry she encountered during her youth in the 1930s. Kathy Bates is a sheer delight as Evelyn, a modern-day housewife who visits Tandy in the nursing home and finds inspiration in memories from her past. Mary Stuart Masterson and Mary-Louise Parker are terrific as well as Ingrid and Ruth.

Overall, Fried Green Tomatoes is a lovely little film, wonderfully acted and just very relaxing to watch. 9/10 Bethany Cox