Plot
Evelyn Couch (Kathy Bates), a timid, unhappy housewife in her forties, meets elderly Ninny Threadgoode (Jessica Tandy) in a Birmingham, Alabama, nursing home. Ninny, over several encounters with Evelyn, tells her the story of the now-abandoned town of Whistle Stop, Alabama, and the people who lived there. The film's subplot concerns Evelyn's dissatisfaction with her marriage and her life, her growing confidence, and her developing friendship with Ninny. The narrative switches several times between Ninny's story, which is set between World War I and World War II, and Evelyn's life in 1980s Birmingham.
Ninny's story begins with tomboy Imogene "Idgie" Threadgoode (Mary Stuart Masterson), the youngest of the Threadgoode children, whom Ninny describes as her sister-in-law. Idgie's close relationship with her charming older brother Buddy (Chris O'Donnell) is cut short when he is hit by a train and killed. Devastated, Idgie recedes from formal society for much of her childhood and adolescence until Buddy's former girlfriend, the straitlaced Ruth Jamison (Mary-Louise Parker), intervenes at the request of the concerned Threadgoode family.
Idgie initially resists Ruth's attempts at friendship, but then gradually allows a deep attachment to develop. Ruth leaves Whistle Stop to marry Frank Bennett (Nick Searcy) and moves to Valdosta, Georgia. Idgie is upset at losing her friend and struggles to forget her. After some time she visits Ruth, now pregnant and suffering from physical abuse from Frank. Against Frank's wishes, Ruth returns to Whistle Stop with Idgie, where her child, named Buddy Jr., is born. Papa Threadgoode gives Idgie money to start a business so she can care for Ruth and Buddy Jr. Ruth and Idgie open the Whistle Stop Cafe, employing cook Sipsey (Cicely Tyson) and her son Big George (Stan Shaw), who makes a barbecue that quickly becomes popular with their patrons.
Frank Bennett eventually returns to Whistle Stop in an attempt to kidnap Buddy Jr., but is thwarted by an unseen assailant. Frank goes missing and his truck is later found at the bottom of a nearby lake. Idgie is immediately a suspect, as she had publicly threatened violence against him for beating Ruth. She is arrested along with Big George for Frank's murder. The local sheriff offers to release her and pin the crime solely on Big George, but Idgie refuses to sacrifice her friend. During the subsequent trial, the local minister lies, providing Idgie and Big George with an alibi for the time of Frank's disappearance. Taking into account Frank's reputation for getting drunk, the judge rules his death an accident. Idgie and Big George are cleared of all charges.
After the trial, Ruth develops cancer and dies. Following her death, the café closes. Over time, many Whistle Stop residents eventually move away, bringing Ninny to the end of her story, but not before the revelation of what really happened to Frank: Sipsey had killed Frank (with a blow to the head from a cast-iron skillet) while trying to stop him from kidnapping Buddy Jr. Big George then barbecued Frank's body and served it to the Georgia sheriff searching for Frank.
Evelyn discovers that during Ninny's temporary stay at the nursing home, Ninny's house was condemned and torn down. Evelyn, having become good friends with Ninny, offers her a room in her home which Ninny accepts. As the two friends walk away from Ninny's former home, they pass Ruth's grave, freshly adorned with a jar of honey and honeycomb and a card which reads "I will always Love You. The Bee Charmer", Ruth's old nickname for Idgie.
Read more about this topic: Fried Green Tomatoes
Famous quotes containing the word plot:
“Trade and the streets ensnare us,
Our bodies are weak and worn;
We plot and corrupt each other,
And we despoil the unborn.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“After I discovered the real life of mothers bore little resemblance to the plot outlined in most of the books and articles I’d read, I started relying on the expert advice of other mothers—especially those with sons a few years older than mine. This great body of knowledge is essentially an oral history, because anyone engaged in motherhood on a daily basis has no time to write an advice book about it.”
—Mary Kay Blakely (20th century)
“James’s great gift, of course, was his ability to tell a plot in shimmering detail with such delicacy of treatment and such fine aloofness—that is, reluctance to engage in any direct grappling with what, in the play or story, had actually “taken place”Mthat his listeners often did not, in the end, know what had, to put it in another way, “gone on.””
—James Thurber (1894–1961)