Fried Green Tomatoes: Anniversary Edition – DVD Review

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credit: www.impawards.com

Director:

Jon Avnet

Cast:

Kathy Bates……….Evelyn Couch
Mary Stuart Masterson……….Idgie Threadgoode
Mary-Louise Parker……….Ruth Jamison
Jessica Tandy……….Ninny Threadgoode
Cicely Tyson……….Sipsey
Stan Shaw……….Big George
Chris O’Donnell……….Buddy Threadgoode

Universal Pictures presents Fried Green Tomatoes. Written by Fannie Flagg & Carol Sobieski. Based on the Novel by Fannie Flagg. Running Time: 137 minutes. Not Rated (originally rated PG-13). Originally released in 1991.

The Movie:

Evelyn Couch is a middle-aged underappreciated housewife, with a jerk of a husband who is more interested in baseball than his wife. While visiting her husband’s evil aunt in a nursing home Evelyn meets Ninny Threadgoode who starts rambling to her about the past. Evelyn humors her at first till Ninny mentions murder. Intrigued, Evelyn gets wrapped up in the tale Ninny spins.

Ninny’s story is that of Idgie Threadgoode and Ruth Jamison. Two friends who are faced with every adversity one could thing from an abusive husband and the KKK to deadly illnesses. After threatening to take Ruth’s baby away, her husband disappears and is presumed dead. The local authority believes Idgie is the guilty one, but did she do it?

With hints that Ruth and Idgie were more than friends in a time when that kind of thing was more than unacceptable is an interesting subplot. The subtly of it is really nice making for an unconventional love story. And it’s got a nice little twisted ending!

Hearing this story helps Evelyn become more of an assertive person. There is a great scene when two snotty bitches take her parking spot. A fed up Evelyn slams into their tiny VW bug several times before taking off. “Face it girls, I’m older and I have more insurance.”

This extended edition is seven minutes longer than the theatrical release. Having not seen it before, I don’t know what was added but I do know this: This is a pretty great film. It’s a great story, with real characters that are very easy to relate and connect to.

The acting is great across the board. Kathy Bates is, as always, amazing so is the late great Jessica Tandy. Even Chris O’Donnell who’s only in the film for a few minutes before getting run over by a train does a good job. Not to mention, the one screen chemistry between Mary Stuart Masterson and Mary-Louise Parker which is just perfect!

STORY: 10/10
ACTING: 9/10
LOOK/FEEL: 9/10
ORIGINALITY: 10/10
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: 9/10
TOTAL POINTS: 47/50
FINAL SCORE: 9.5/10


Idgie getting honey right from the source for Ruth.

The DVD:

The Video:

The film is presented in Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 and all the southern goodness of this film looks great in this digitally remastered transfer.

Score:10/10

The Audio:

This film is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and sounds great.

Score:10/10

Extras:

Audio Commentary by Director Jon Avnet: This guy is kind of boring to listen to but he says some interesting stuff. Definitely only for hard core fans of the film.

Deleted Scenes: These are just little snippets, one or two lines, and are pretty good. If they were going to add seven minutes back into the film I don’t know why they didn’t stick these in too.

Outtakes: Pretty run of the mill outtakes, some are kinda funny.

Moments of Discovery: The Making Of Fried Green Tomatoes: This one hour and four minute documentary covers EVER facet of the film. Apparently the first draft of this script was a musical! Then they brought in the author of the book to fix it, good thing they did. Everyone talks about the first time they tried fried green tomatoes and whether they like them or not. They also show how they turned the place where the shot the all the restaurant scenes into a real café. The scenes added into film are also discussed, one being a scene near the end of the film when Evelyn takes Ninny to a gospel church.

Sipsey’s Recipes: Make yourself a southern feast! Recipes for buttermilk biscuits, skillet cornbread, coconut cream pie, pecan pie, southern-fried chicken, chicken & dumplings, fried ham with red-eye gravy, grits, fried catfish, milk gravy, pork chops & gravy, snap beans, black-eyed peas, creamed corn, lime beans & butter beans, candied yams, fried okra, turnip & collard greens, and of coarse, fried green tomatoes!

Jon Avnet’s Director’s notes: Shot breakdowns for a few important scenes. Interesting stuff for the filmmakers of tomorrow, pretty boring for everyone else.

Poster Campaign/Production Photographs

Score:8/10

InsidePulse’s Ratings for Fried Green Tomatoes: Anniversary Edition
CATEGORY
RATING
(OUT OF 10)
THE MOVIE

9.5
THE VIDEO

10
THE AUDIO

10
THE EXTRAS

8
REPLAY VALUE

9
OVERALL
9
(NOT AN AVERAGE)

Mike Noyes received his Masters Degree in Film from the Academy of Art University, San Francisco. A few of his short films can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/user/mikebnoyes. He recently published his first novel which you can buy here: https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Days-Years-Mike-Noyes-ebook/dp/B07D48NT6B/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1528774538&sr=8-1&keywords=seven+days+seven+years