Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.5

Fried Green Tomatoes Blu-ray Movie Review

Ladies who lunch.

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf March 9, 2014

When it finally saw a wide release in January 1992, “Fried Green Tomatoes” shocked Hollywood with its box office staying power, ending up with grosses nobody could’ve predicted. Finding its audience at the right time, it’s easy to spot why the film connected in a big way. With characters worthy of emotional investment, sassy humor, and a female perspective rarely viewed in such a frank manner, “Fried Green Tomatoes” is a full course cinematic meal, retaining its literary origins with ideal confidence. Quibbles aside, it’s a well-told tale with unexpectedly secure performances, also retaining a nice edge that helps to dial down the potential for syrup. After all, it’s not every day that one encounters a sensitive tale of sisterhood that also contains an element of cannibalism. For that alone, the movie deserves respect.

Evelyn (Kathy Bates) is depressed and overweight, stuck in an unsatisfying marriage to husband Ed (Gailard Sartain). During a visit to a convalescent home, Evelyn meets Ninny (Jessica Tandy), a spirited resident aching for company. Hoping to perk up Evelyn’s spirits, Ninny shares a personal story concerning Idgie (Mary Stuart Masterson), a feisty tomboy growing up in rural Alabama after World War I. Idgie’s a wild child without direction in life, tamed by her friendship with Ruth (Mary-Louise Parker), who enjoys her pal’s moxie while she endures a more traditional life of marriage and obedience. Vowing to rescue her friend, Idgie reclaims Ruth from violent husband Frank (Nick Searcy), setting up a café in town where they thrive, remaining color blind as racism floods the south. However, when Frank disappears, law enforcement keeps an eye on Idgie and African-American companion Big George (Stan Shaw). Evelyn, awed by Idgie’s independence, seeks to restore purpose to her life, repeatedly returning to Ninny’s side as the year passes.

Based on the novel by Fannie Flagg, “Fried Green Tomatoes” delivers more than a surface depiction of emotional bonds. Attacking themes of aging and self-improvement, the story winds through the past and present, with Ninny’s recollection serving as an entrance to flashbacks detailing Idgie’s determination to remain in Ruth’s life, clamoring for her attention. Director Jon Avent (his first feature in a forgettable career) smoothly balances the shifts in time, tying together Evelyn’s developing feminine consciousness and Idgie’s fight for happiness, each boasting an impassioned Amazonian war cry to help inspire bravery. There’s a real page-turning feel to “Fried Green Tomatoes” as it introduces an assortment of characters and establishes the rural community of Whistle Stop, tracking the rise of racism and Ku Klux Klan menace, various tragedies, and the harmony of the café, eventually disrupted by Frank’s disappearance.

Missing from the film is a suggestion of sexuality. In Flagg’s book, Idgie and Ruth were largely acknowledged as a lesbian couple, creating meaning to their steadfast loyalty as they build a life together. Avent doesn’t have the nerve to define the pairing, leaving Idgie and Ruth connected as best friends with a history together. Of course, this screws around with motivations, and it makes Idgie’s dogged determination to protect Ruth come off as obsessive. Avent employs a food fight scene to suggest eroticism, but it fails to register as anything more than forced silliness in a feature that doesn’t need the tangent. There’s a powerhouse study of love in here somewhere, only to be stymied by a production that isn’t willing to make the necessary leap in characterization, thus failing to fill the picture with an honest interpersonal dynamic. BFFs are fine, but the soulful bond between Idgie and Ruth deserves a more accurate screen representation.

More concrete is Evelyn’s arc, observing the depressed woman habitually turn to food for comfort, finding light in Ninny’s stories. It’s appealing work from Bates, who avoids turning Evelyn into a pathetic mess, keeping the character bright and relatable, gradually coming to the realization that happiness can be achieved with a little discipline. Tandy and Bates make a swell team, greasing transitions with their charm, while providing the picture with a necessary sense of humor to combat some rather dark turns of fate. Masterson and Parker also bring a sharp burst of life to their roles, with the former nailing wild child spunk transformed into responsibility, and the latter capturing gentle vulnerability.

Fried Green Tomatoes Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation doesn't offer a refreshed viewing experience for the feature's Blu-ray debut. Instead, Universal offers an older master that suffers from filtering. While the processed look doesn't completely suffocate picture quality, it remains troublesome throughout, with haloing and a polite scrubbing of grain. Mild judder and moiré is detected during one scene as well. Low-lit sequences are often muddy, with poor black levels that remove frame information. The presentation is best in broad daylight, allowing colors to find life, offering naturalistic hues for the rural setting, while costuming and food items bring out a passable sense of red and yellow. Skintones are acceptable without being remarkable. Fine detail is basic for BD, providing facial particulars and set dressing highlights, but textures lack a filmic quality.

Fried Green Tomatoes Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA sound mix offers adequate care of the essentials, leading with crisp dialogue exchanges that preserve performances and position, while small town group activity and interiors retain personality and crowd bustle. Scoring is sharp and pronounced, with satisfying instrumentation but little fullness. Soundtrack cuts offer more depth, boosting the presence of the track. Surrounds are only minimally engaged, pushing out music or atmospherics, but largely remain unexplored. Low-end is sparse, good for a few train rumbles and automobile crunches.

Fried Green Tomatoes Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary with director Jon Avnet offers a hushed listening experience, with the helmer practically whispering his thoughts to the listener. Consistently informational with a few passages of play-by-play, Avnet shares deep admiration for his film, discussing difficult shooting locations and interpretational ideas during the process of adaptation, while lavishing praise on his cast and their dramatic choices. He's also opinionated, calling professional sports "the opiate of the masses." Zing.

• Deleted Scenes (1:16, SD) provide only brief moments of mischief and prayer, along with a quick peek at Ruth's son's high school graduation, glimpsing a moment in time the feature doesn't visit.

• Outtakes (2:44, SD) collect various mistakes and on-set tomfoolery, the best belonging to Tandy, who addresses Evelyn as Kathy, surprising Bates.

• "Moments of Discovery" (65:42, SD) is an exhaustive making-of documentary, detailing the steps of production that led to the creation of "Fried Green Tomatoes." Interviews with cast and crew are illuminating and honest, sharing their thoughts on Flagg's novel and the difficulty of adaptation with the author around. Anecdotes and intentions are shared, and Avnet even visits movie locations, which have been preserved in Georgia, turned into a tourist destination. Music, costuming, the trials of southern heat and critters, bee wrangling, and thematic ambition are also discussed. It's a terrific overview of the picture, allowing the viewer to comprehend the feeling and achievement of the work.

• "Sipsey's Recipes" (2:02) offers 20 dishes for creation (pulled from the original novel) that celebrate the spirit of the story.

• Director's Notes (3:16) displays script pages from three scenes, with Avent's visual and dramatic ideas interspersed around the action and dialogue.

• Production Photographs (19:51) cover certain aspects of on-set activity, including Food (8 pictures), Crew (25 pictures), Jon Avnet (28 pictures), Sets (12 pictures), and Cast (91 pictures).

• Poster Campaign (1:52) submits 15 images from proposed marketing efforts.

• A Theatrical Trailer has not been included.

Fried Green Tomatoes Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Avent introduces a few amusing acts of misdirection along the way, maintaining an impish sense of surprise, and there's a terrific depiction of small town southern life that lends the picture welcome atmosphere. Despite missing some connective tissue for key relationships, "Fried Green Tomatoes" remains a convincing drama and successful comedy, carrying Flagg's specialized voice to the screen with minimal interruptions. It's a charmer with poignancy and an appreciation for life's unexplored corners, peppered with just the right amount of sass, shock, and sincerity to pull viewers in tightly.