Critical Review of Fried Green Tomatoes
Critical Review of "Fried Green Tomatoes"
Fried Green Tomatoes is a thoroughly enjoyable movie-going experience, replete with laughter, tears, triumph, and tragedy. Unfortunately, it has been sanitized and "Hollywoodized,” with the relationship between the two 1930 female leads left ambiguous, and a few too many scenes going over-the-top to manipulate an emotional reaction. So, while providing two-plus hours worth of solid entertainment, director Jon Avnet's picture, adapted from Fannie Flagg’s novel, lacks the crucial ingredient that would have lifted it above the level of a tearjerker to that of the extraordinary.
The acting, however, can easily be counted among Fried Green Tomatoes' strengths. Especially noteworthy are the performances by Mary Stuart Masterson as Idgie and Mary-Louise Parker as Ruth, who makes their characters' improbable friendship come alive. Masterson is wonderful as Idgie. Her snappy persona gives Idgie enough spirit for four or five central screen women. Parker portrays Ruth with a rare warmth and practicality that compliments the marvelous energy of Masterson. Jessica Tandy brings the wisdom of her years as Ninny Threadgoode. Tandy's delivers her lines with a wonderful sense of humor. Evelyn, played by Kathy Bates, is a hungry audience and together these pairs of women make marvelous cornerstones for this film.
Fried Green Tomatoes is two stories in one, both of which ultimately work as well as they can, given what the film is trying to do. It should be noted, however, that the present-day scenes aren't as involving as those that take place in the 1930s. The structure is unusual, with the modern day scenes "framing" the flashbacks. Because the differences in the time periods are so marked, this may have not been the best way to handle the dual storylines. There are some awkward moments when the 1930s/90s parallelism seems to be forced.
The greatest flaw of this movie is that Avnet tries relentlessly to get his viewers to reach for the box of tissues. A little manipulation is expected in any melodrama, but Fried Green Tomatoes goes overboard. That's not to say that the audience is likely to be weeping through the entire film, but Avnet isn't particularly subtle about what he's trying to do. Then again, for those who like a "good cry,” this may be the perfect picture.
Because of its strong sense of character development, Fried Green Tomatoes touches a plethora of emotional chords. At times, it is...