Fried Green Tomatoes

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Fried Green Tomatoes

PG-13,

1991,

2h 10m,

Drama

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Watchlist

Watchlist

76%

46 Reviews

Tomatometer

86%

100,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

76%

Tomatometer

46 Reviews

86%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

On one of trapped housewife Evelyn Couch's (Kathy Bates) Wednesday nursing home visits, she encounters Ninny Threadgoode (Jessica Tandy), a colorful old woman who brightens Evelyn's outlook by sharing tales from her past. As Ninny recounts the exploits of her free-spirited sister-in-law Idgie (Mary Stuart Masterson), owner of a small Alabama café in the 1920s, and the bond Idgie shared with her friend Ruth (Mary-Louise Parker), Evelyn gains the confidence to change her own life for the better.

Critics Consensus

Fried Green Tomatoes' tearjerking drama is undeniably manipulative, but in the hands of a skilled cast that includes Jessica Tandy and Kathy Bates, it's also powerfully effective.

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Lynden Barber

Sydney Morning Herald

Dec 19, 2025

If it contains hokiness and cornpone, these are not served in portions so large they can't be swallowed, and there are at least enough quality ingredients to aid digestion.

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Hugo Davenport

Daily Telegraph (UK)

May 20, 2022

Do not be deterred by the indigestible title nor, if feministically inclined, by the fact that it is directed by mere man Jon Avnet. It is funny, cleverly constructed, often rather moving, and only occasionally allows sentiment to slop over the bucket.

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Michael Sragow

The New Yorker

Jun 2, 2014

[A] clunky, fraudulent, yet apparently crowd-pleasing laugh-and-tear-jerker.

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Mark Jackson

Epoch Times

May 5, 2026

3.5/5

The treacly 'Fried Green Tomatoes' wouldn't be the long-standing crowd-pleaser it is without Bates, Tandy, Masterson, and Parker infusing it with charisma.

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Malinda Lo

AfterEllen.com

May 6, 2024

Fried Green Tomatoes is iconic in its presentation of love across the years, across generations and across boundaries. It’s a tamed but still powerful love story -- and a lesbian classic, if only in subtext.

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Rex Sterling

Alabama Forum

May 4, 2023

A compelling and enjoyable movie.

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Apr 19, 2019

Must see movie. Very heart warming.

Mar 29, 2019

This movie never gets old! XOXO

Poe W

Feb 22, 2019

Definately a movie to watch over and over again.

Feb 17, 2019

A really good film to watch with your mum.

Luke M

Dec 9, 2018

Fun on its own, touching. They butchered out some of the most important parts of the book.

Finn S

Nov 28, 2018

This was nominated for two Oscars while winning an award from the Casting Society if America for outstanding film in 1992. It is based on the heart wrenching stories of Ninny Threadgoodeâ(TM)s a frail but feisty womanâ(TM)s life who was wonderfully and historically played by Kathy Bates who is known for her wonderful strong female leads. She was a headstrong woman who lived her own life that was not typical in women of this time era. She also was serving blacks who worked in the fields behind her cafÃ (C). Meanwhile many of the towns people spent time at a bootleg bar on the opposite side of the river, while the blacks were fighting for there civil rights. Which shows all of the important troubles the people of Alabama were facing at the time.

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Jon Avnet

Director

Kathy Bates

Evelyn Couch

Jessica Tandy

Ninny Threadgoode

Mary Stuart Masterson

Idgie Threadgoode

Mary-Louise Parker

Ruth Jamison

Nick Searcy

Frank Bennett

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Synopsis

On one of trapped housewife Evelyn Couch's (Kathy Bates) Wednesday nursing home visits, she encounters Ninny Threadgoode (Jessica Tandy), a colorful old woman who brightens Evelyn's outlook by sharing tales from her past. As Ninny recounts the exploits of her free-spirited sister-in-law Idgie (Mary Stuart Masterson), owner of a small Alabama café in the 1920s, and the bond Idgie shared with her friend Ruth (Mary-Louise Parker), Evelyn gains the confidence to change her own life for the better.

Director: Jon Avnet
Producer: Jon Avnet, Jordan Kerner
Screenwriter: Fannie Flagg, Carol Sobieski
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Production Co: Fried Green Tomatoes Productions, Universal Pictures, Avnet/Kerner Productions, Act III Communications, Electric Shadow Productions
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 27, 1991, Original
Rerelease Date (Theaters): May 10, 2026
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 15, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA): $81.2M
Runtime: 2h 10m
Sound Mix: Surround

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