Fried Green Tomatoes is a Dramedy film released in December 1991, under the direction of Jon Avnet and co-written by Fannie Flagg who was the original author of the book the movie is based on, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (the other co-writer was Carol Sobieski, who left the production early on due to her script being written as a musical; she later passed away due to amyloidosis in November 1990, 13 months before the movie's release). Having the input of the source material's creator, the movie closely adapts its events. It follows the struggles of a housewife from whom happiness has escaped for the longest time... until she meets an elderly woman who tells her stories that bring new light to her life.
The movie's cast includes Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Mary Stuart Masterson, Mary-Louise Parker and Cicely Tyson. Avnet was determined to direct it after having read the book at the recommendation of television workmate Lisa Lindstrom and liking it.
Examples exclusive to the film (see the book's page for tropes that apply to both versions, or exclusively to the book):
- '80s Hair: In the film version, the two young ladies who harass Evelyn in the parking lot sport this to a tee.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: In the novel, Ninny describes herself as a very tall, plain, big-boned woman who is still rather large and robust even in old age. In the film she's played by fragile, bird-like Jessica Tandy, who was quite a looker when she was young.
- Ambiguously Gay: The movie decided to play Idgie and Ruth's relationship as a more subtle and heavily implied thing, rather than outright stating to the camera they were lovers. The book on the other hand was quite explicit. In the sequel, the relationship is quietly confirmed when Idgie tells her brother Julian that she and Ruth were more than just best friends. Julian is not surprised.
- Compressed Adaptation: Quite a lot. The book covers nearly eighty years in the life of a small town and its residents, many of whom have greatly expanded roles and even whole arcs that are never hinted at in the film.
- The major omission on this front seems to be Big George's family. His children are greatly expanded upon in the book and we get to follow their adventures into adulthood; Evelyn even gets to meet some of his descendants. In the film, we see only his daughter Naughty Bird.note
- Evelyn and Ed's adult children are never mentioned. Neither is Evelyn's suicidal impulses or her grief at the death of her mother (which is a much bigger motivation in the book than her menopause).
- The book contains a final scene in which we learn that Idgie, while elderly, is still very much alive and charming bees with her brother Julian.
- Cynicism Catalyst: Idgie's other brother Buddy is killed by a passing train, which devastated her so much that she cut any social ties during much of her adolescence. Ruth tries to help Idgie but the latter scoffs her about it, and it's not until much later when things change for the better for her.
- Decomposite Character: Sheriff Smoote and the judge are separate characters in the film, and neither of them indicates having any history with Frank Bennett.
- Ironic Echo: There's a family joke told several times in the film about a flock of ducks landing in a small pond. The first time it's told by Buddy to Ruth right before he's killed. The last time it's told is by Idgie to Ruth on Ruth's deathbed. Ruth wanted it to be the last thing she heard as she was dying.
- Kick the Dog: Or rather, kick your pregnant wife down the stairs as she's leaving you. Frank does this in the film without a shred of remorse, earring him a You Monster! reaction from Idgie's brother Julian, who nearly assaults him.
- Noble Bigot with a Badge:; Like in the book, Grady is a Klansman, as Idgie points out because she recognizes his shoes when he's in his robes, and when he says he "doesn't recognize" the Georgian Klansmen that show up in Whistle Stop. Apparently Whistlestop Klansmen have different standards for how they treat black people than the Georgia ones. This would, however, have been subverted by a deleted scene which was later inserted into the Extended Cut. Idgie mentions offhandedly that she recognizes the "size fourteen clodhoppers" she believes Grady wears. In the deleted scene, soon after the Georgia Klan comes to town and tortures Big George, Grady reveals the truth— he doesn't wear size 14 and "doesn't much care for parades, bed sheets, or otherwise."
- Pintsized Powerhouse: Idgie is played by Mary Stuart Masterson, who at 5'4" is significantly shorter than many of the full-grown men she stands up to. (Averted in the novel, where Idgie's described as tall and lanky).
- Promoted to Love Interest: In the film, Grady has a bit of a crush on Idgie, to the point that he's apparently asked her to marry him a couple times (though in fairness, he clowns it up a lot, meaning it might be an old gag between them). It's still an upgrade from the book, where none of Idgie's male friends, including Grady, ever regard her as anything but one of the boys.
- Related in the Adaptation:
- An odd but minor example: In the novel, the woman Ed and Evelyn visit in the nursing home is Ed's unnamed mother. In the film, they go to visit Ed's aunt Vesta Adcock. This is an interesting (if random) switcheroo, since in the novel, Vesta Adcock is a long-time resident of Whistle Stop whom Mrs. Threadgoode has known for many years, while in the film, they're only fellow nursing home residents and there's no evidence that they knew each other previously.
- Inverted with Ruth and Buddy Threadgoode: In the film, they're love interests. In the novel, Ruth is cousin to the Threadgoode children and Buddy was dead well before she ever came to Whistle Stop; there's no indication that she ever met him.
- Spared by the Adaptation:
- Ninny dies toward the end of the novel, but survives to the end of the film.
- Smokey Lonesome is also alive when last seen in the film, while in the novel a chapter focuses on his death of natural causes, several years after the trial. (The director's cut of the film mentions Smokey's off-screen death.)
