PRINCE OF TIDES/FRIED GREEN TOMATOES
A film review by Sarah M. Elkins
Copyright 1992 Sarah M. Elkins
PRINCE OF TIDES: sweeping movie with big themes and big-star romance
Plot/kickoff: Tom Wingo (Nick Nolte), an ex-football player and English teacher in South Carolina, goes off to New York City to help his sister Savannah by telling her psychiatrist Dr. Lowenstein (Barbra Streisand) his family history. Characters/acting: Streisand is believable, though I wonder if her character's actions were entirely ethical. Nolte's best role yet, though one scene seemed a little forced (maybe the script's fault). Fun appearance by George Carlin as Savannah's neighbor; Blythe Danner plays Tom's wife, though she doesn't get to do too much (see MR. & MRS. BRIDGE for her best); I also liked Lowenstein's surly teenager as played by Jason Gould, Streisand's and Elliot Gould's son.
Cinematography/FX: Ahhh, the South. Beautiful shots of coastal Carolina that made me want to visit Charleston (my college town) again.
Score: okay
Violence: Not too gory, but there are some upsetting scenes
Language: don't remember
Skin/situations: oh, some kissing, bodies in bed, nothing new or wild
FRIED GREEN TOMATOES: a warm, intimate tale of love between friends past and present
Plot/kickoff: a timid housewife (Kathy Bates) meets an old woman (Jessica Tandy) at a nursing home in Alabama. As the old woman recounts stories about Idgie (Mary Stuart Masterson), Ruth (Mary Louise Parker) and other memorable characters from her past, we see the friendship between the women in the present grow, and Bates' character undergo a transformation. Characters/acting: Masterson was natural, true and real, a rare performance that makes me want to see her other movies. I wish I knew more people like her character in real life. Many fine performances by those who played other minor characters of the past. Tandy was enjoyable, and Bates was good for the most part (though I thought her timidity at the start was a little forced)
Cinematography/FX: Ahhh, the South. Not lush like PRINCE OF TIDES, but whoever shot this knows how to make you feel like you're right there (and I don't mean just by using close-ups). The rural Old South sequences certainly seemed accurate.
Score: Good, as far as I noticed.
Violence: Some, upsetting, but not big-scale or bloody
Language: Some profanity, not much
Skin/situations: None, except maybe some implications
Analysis: There are quite a few similarities between the two movies: secrets from the past revealed through a sequence of memories mixed in with interesting goings-on in the present, a strong Southern element in both movies, a little audience manipulation (not enough to spoil things), and some more I won't get into, to avoid spoilers. The difference is in tone. PRINCE OF TIDES showed how people can become whole by dealing with the past. FRIED GREEN TOMATOES showed people whose courage and strength came from having good friends to lean on, laugh with, and fight for. I recommend both - but my guess is I'll want to see FRIED GREEN TOMATOES again sooner than PRINCE OF TIDES.
-Sarah elkins.wbst139@xerox.com
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