Fried Green Tomatoes is a 1991 comedy-drama film based on the novel
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by
Fannie Flagg. It was released in the
UK under the novel's full title. Directed by
Jon Avnet and written by Fannie Flagg and
Carol Sobieski, it stars
Kathy Bates,
Jessica Tandy,
Mary-Louise Parker and
Mary Stuart Masterson. It tells the story of a
Depression-era friendship between two women, Ruth and Idgie, and a 1980s friendship between Evelyn, a middle-aged housewife, and Ninny, an elderly woman who knew Ruth and Idgie. The centerpiece and parallel story concerns the murder of Ruth's abusive husband and the accusations that follow.
The film received a generally positive reception from film critics and was nominated for two
Academy Awards. The filmmakers drew criticism from some reviewers for removing the
lesbian content of the book's plot, but the film won a
GLAAD Media Award for 'best lesbian content'.
Plot
Evelyn Couch (
Kathy Bates), a timid, unhappy housewife in her forties, meets elderly Ninny Threadgoode (
Jessica Tandy) in a
Birmingham, Alabama, nursing home. Ninny, over several encounters with Evelyn, tells her the story of the now-abandoned town of Whistle Stop, Alabama, and the people who lived there.
Ninny's story begins with tomboy Imogene "Idgie" Threadgoode (
Mary Stuart Masterson), the youngest of the Threadgoode children, whom Ninny describes as her sister-in-law. Idgie's close relationship with her charming older brother Buddy (
Chris......
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