Fried Green Tomatoes

Fried Green Tomatoes is a 1991 American comedy-drama film directed by Jon Avnet and based on Fannie Flagg's 1987 novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. Written by Flagg and Carol Sobieski, and starring Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Mary Stuart Masterson, Mary-Louise Parker and Cicely Tyson, the film tells the story of a middle-aged housewife who, unhappy with her life, befriends an elderly lady in a nursing home and is enthralled by the tales she tells of people she used to know.

The film was released in theaters in the United States on December 27, 1991, garnered positive reviews from critics and was a box office success, grossing $119.4 million on a $11 million budget.

Fried Green Tomatoes received nominations for two Academy Awards and two BAFTA awards, as well as nominations for three Golden Globe Awards and a Guldbagge Award.

Evelyn Couch is a timid housewife in her 40s in 1980s Birmingham, Alabama. Her husband Ed has an aunt with dementia living at an Alabama nursing home. While waiting for Ed in the waiting room, Evelyn meets the elderly Ninny Threadgoode. Over several encounters, Ninny tells Evelyn about the long-abandoned town of Whistle Stop and its residents.

Ninny's tale begins with tomboy Idgie, the youngest member of the Threadgoode family. She and Ruth Jamison are devastated when Idgie's beloved older brother and Ruth's boyfriend, Buddy, is killed by a train. Idgie remains socially withdrawn well into her adolescence. At the Threadgoode family's request, the straitlaced Ruth befriends a reluctant Idgie, and over the summer they gradually develop a deep attachment.

Ruth eventually moves to Valdosta, Georgia, to marry Frank Bennett. Idgie visits a pregnant Ruth, only to discover that Frank habitually abuses her. Against Frank's violent attempts to stop her, Idgie, together with her brother Julian and Big George, rescue Ruth who returns to Whistle Stop with them, where her son, Buddy Jr., is born. Papa Threadgoode gives Idgie money to start a business and help care for Ruth and Buddy Jr. She and Ruth open the Whistle Stop Cafe, employing the family cook, Sipsey, and her son, Big George, whose excellent barbecue becomes widely popular.

Frank arrives at Whistle Stop to kidnap his infant son, but an unseen assailant thwarts his attempt, and he is soon reported missing. About five years later, Frank's truck surfaces in a nearby river. Idgie becomes a suspect, having publicly threatened Frank for beating Ruth. Sheriff Grady Kilgore detains both her and Big George, and Idgie rejects his offer to release her and pin Frank's supposed murder solely on Big George. During the subsequent trial, Reverend Scroggins provides false testimony that supports both Idgie's and Big George's alibis. Taking into account Frank's reputation for drunkenness and his body never being found, the judge rules his probable death as accidental and drops all charges against Idgie and Big George. Shortly after the trial, Ruth is diagnosed with terminal cancer and soon dies. When trains stop running through Whistle Stop, the café closes, and the townsfolk drift away.

Ninny concludes her story by revealing that Sipsey killed Frank by hitting him over the head with a cast-iron skillet and pushed his car into the river, and that Idgie convinced Big George to butcher and barbecue Frank's body, which they later served to Sheriff Curtis Smoot, who relentlessly investigated Frank's disappearance for years.