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

[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

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

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

The movie left me wishing its sterling cast -- including a radiant Jessica Tandy -- had been better served.

| Original Score: B- | Sep 7, 2011

Tandy is at her sparkling best as the endearing old story-teller. Bates is also terrif in a funny and sympathetic turn. Director Jon Avnet, in his feature film debut, gets first-rate work from the featured performers.

| Oct 18, 2008

More dizzying than the jumps between past and present is the speed with which consciousness-raised Evelyn swaps caricatures, evolving from Frump to Fighter.

| Jun 24, 2006

One of the strongest things in the film is Ms. Masterson, a magnetic, wildly defiant actress with so much energy she often seems to be bursting at the seams of her role.

Full Review | May 20, 2003

Mary Stuart Masterson, as Idgie, keeps us guessing. One of Hollywood's best young actresses, she fairly sets off sparks as the tomboy next door, a distaff Huck Finn.

| Jan 1, 2000

Fried Green Tomatoes is fairly predictable, and the flashback structure is a distraction, but the strength of the performances overcomes the problems of the structure.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 1, 2000

While Fried Green Tomatoes often veers between being too pat and too vague, too obvious and too unclear, too much of the "I laughed, I cried" school of storytelling -- it still has a charm that stems from its vivid and unique characterizations.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 1, 2000