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.

| May 6, 2024

A compelling and enjoyable movie.

| May 4, 2023

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.

| May 20, 2022

The final and most important question is, is Fried Green Tomatoes worth all the compromise or will you leave the theater forlorn and bleary eyed? Not to worry... it will leave you with that warm, gummy feeling you get when Bette Midler sings a lullabye.

| May 17, 2022

For all of its false touches, its confusions, its incohesiveness and perplexing shifts of tone, there's something wonderfully sweet and zesty about Fried Green Tomatoes.

| May 22, 2018

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

Full Review | Jun 2, 2014

When a group of actors this gifted and lively tries so good-naturedly to deliver such an obvious message, the audience is left in the position of trying to stop a tidal wave. You may hate yourself for responding, but you're smothered before you know it.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jun 2, 2014

It's a nice, pleasant celebration of friendship, but without much meat to chew on.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 2, 2014

It doesn't quite have the courage to face its own implications and so leaves the story that follows in a kind of blur apt to offend no one but equally incapable of moving anyone.

| Jun 2, 2014

Fried Green Tomatoes is gosh-darned lovable, even if it does get downright sugary at times.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 2, 2014

Directed and co-written by first-timer Jon Avnet, the episodic production manages to capture the fried-tomato flavor of the deep South without becoming too pushy or patronizing about it.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 2, 2014

Essentially a story about friendship between two pairs of women, then and now, it could be classified as an intelligent woman's picture, but this truly uplifting and gratifying movie can and should be enjoyed by all.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 2, 2014

Fried Green Tomatoes is a case of a film acted with such skill and conviction that glaring problems of narrative, pace and structure seem like minor slips.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 2, 2014

The movie never quite shakes its stiff, studied feel, just as the town of Whistle Stop never stops seeming the quaint creation of an art director.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 2, 2014

Fried Green Tomatoes is an engaging if sentimental tale, charmingly handled by producer-turned-director Jon Avnet and flawlessly acted by its four female stars.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jun 2, 2014

Fried Green Tomatoes is a cut above superficially similar 'women's pictures'.

| Jun 2, 2014

The fine performances and worthy themes are sold short. There are two films here, neither one of which is as fully developed as it could be.

| Jun 2, 2014

The script plods. Tandy looks as though she'd rather be elsewhere. The desire is understandable.

Full Review | Jun 2, 2014

The characters are engaging, but the story is hackneyed and the filmmaking is dull.

| Jun 2, 2014

After all, it's not every day that one encounters a sensitive tale of sisterhood that also contains an element of cannibalism. For that alone, the movie deserves respect.

| Original Score: B+ | Mar 9, 2014