Review for Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is a simple film about friendship. It tells the story of two friendships Ruth and Idgie in the Depression-era and a modern day friendship between Evelyn and Ninny.

Ruth and Idgie's friendship is broken by Ruth's marriage to Frank who takes her to another place and then begins to physically abuse her.
Frank is later murdered and this becomes a big plot point in the film while Evelyn and Ninny develop their relationship in the present with Evelyn being unhappy with her own life and beginning to appreciate the friendship with Ninny.

This film is an enjoyable mess. The film is basically two stories running alongside each other one in the past and one in the present a bit like The Godfather Part 2 (though that would be too generous). I can understand that this would work in the original novel, but in the film it is jarring and awkward. At times I am settled into the modern story when it swaps to the Ruth and Idgie story and vice versa.

My main problem is that separately these stories are fine. The two pairs are fun to watch and Jessica Tandy and Kathy Bates as Evelyn and Ninny are wonderful to watch. Mary Stuart Masterson and Mary-Louise Parker as Idgie and Ruth are again great to watch and the chemistry between the two pairs is perfect. if this had been a two part show with one episode dedicated to each story then that would have been fine, but instead the flow is all off and at times nothing much happens. The murder in the Idgie/Ruth story feels like it has been tacked on to stretch the running time and some of the other scenes just feel pointless.

That being said. I did enjoy the film. The acting by everyone is great, the film looks wonderful and the score provided by Thomas Newman is probably more epic than it needs to be. The lesbian subplot that everyone talks about (and won a GLAAD award) is almost non existent, though there are subtle hints to it that are either too subtle or the director dialing it back due to Producer/Censor issues. Many of the scenes in the film are hilarious and the parking scene 'Face it girls, I'm older and I have more insurance' is probably one of the funniest scenes I have seen in a while. As for the mouthwatering food scenes, I immediately went out to try and find some green tomatoes to try it out for myself.

Extras include a Trailer and a great Teaser including interviews and how to actually make a fried green tomato. Remembering Jessica Tandy is a nice tribute to a wonderful actress. Much like the one in Sophie's Choice. This is simply a timeline slideshow that goes through everything she has done since 1946. Again, it gives no other information about what the role was and whether it was significant in her career. It is only films like The Birds that I recognised and really I didn't recognise much else until the roles that made her a superstar with the likes of Cocoon, *Batteries Not Included and of course her Oscar winning role in Driving Miss Daisy, which they at least acknowledge.

There are multiple interviews with everyone involved from the time of filming. These are with Mary Stuart Masterson, Mary-Louise Parker, Jessica Tandy, Kathy Bates and Director Jon Avnet. All have interesting stories about what they think the film is about or the character they are playing, though they are the typical Answer with no Question interviews which could easily be resolved with a Title card with the question as some of them you have to figure out what exactly they are answering.

Also included is an almost thirty minute phone conversation with author of the original book Fannie Flag. This is fine and if you are a fan of the book or film is it filled with fascinating stories about how the book was written and her thoughts on the film.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe is not a perfect film by any stretch of the imagination, but it has a certain charm that deserves a look. If you are a fan of simple comedy, like the book or enjoy the endearing performances of any of the main four cast then this is a film that you will enjoy.