Lost Reviews #9

Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)
John Avnet

--Notes about this review... I remember nothing about it except that I think Chris O'Donnell is in it and he sucked as usual. --

The performances were great from start to finish. The story had its emotional moments and its dramatic qualities. The movie itself, however, lacked direction, made no connections and really didn’t make a stand on a subject. Well, maybe that the Ku Klux Klan were the bad guys and that women can be strong. Evelyn Couch (Kathy Bates) meets Ninny Threadgoode, who just might be another Threadgoode, I wouldn’t want to ruin it for anyone too stupid to realize who she actually is. Ninny tells Evelyn the story of her and her friend Ruth and all they went through. It’s portrayed as a beautiful story taking place in Alabama in the 1920s. The movie wanted very much to make you laugh, cry and care for all of the characters. While it may have succeeded to some extent in those capacities, it failed massively in the connections it may have tried to make. It failed so badly in fact, I question whether or not there was any intention at all in making connections, in a movie that very much called for them. None of the stories tied together, one thing never led to another. Every action took place for no relative reason. Nothing applied to any point the movie may have been trying to make. It’s a respectable effort to draw attention to the time period and the few changes that have been made along the lines of prejudices, but ultimately this movie failed in most areas.
**
06/19/05