Fried Green Tomatoes: Anniversary Edition

This 1991 drama is a touchstone in the “chick flick” genre, and although it's been imitated and emulated many times in the last 15 years, Fried Green Tomatoes still ranks among the very best in the field. Fanny Flagg's screenplay, adapted from her own novel, begins by introducing us to dowdy, unhappily married Evelyn Couch (Kathy Bates), who visits a nursing home weekly to chat with sprightly Ninny Threadgoode (Jessica Tandy), the elderly former resident of Whistle Stop, Georgia, who tells Evelyn about a young woman named Ruth (Mary-Louise Parker), married to a loutish redneck, but much closer to her friend and partner Idgie Threadgoode (Mary Stuart Masterson), with whom she operated a café specializing in breaded fried green tomatoes. The flashback sequences narrated by Ninny describe Whistle Stop's racial tensions, which bubble over into violence when Ruth's no-account husband disappears and is presumed murdered by a black man named Big George (Stan Shaw). Less specifically described, but clearly inferred, is a lesbian relationship between Ruth and Idgie. Director Jon Avnet elicits terrific performances from Parker and Masterson, early in their careers here, while also portraying Flagg's underlying subject—a narrow-minded society's response to nonconformity—with sensitivity if not subtlety, resulting in an uplifting movie that remains a huge favorite among fans. This “anniversary edition” adds seven minutes to the film and features DVD extras include audio commentary by director Avnet, deleted scenes, outtakes, an hour-plus “making-of” documentary, a collection of recipes, and a stills gallery. Highly recommended. (E. Hulse)