FRIED GREEN TOMATOES (1991) - Thomas Newman - Soundtrack Score Suite

One of the ultimate tearjerkers ever to be put to screen, Fried Green Tomatoes is a story told in flashback, set in both the 1990's and 1930's and addressing common issues in both periods. The 1930's setting is the attractive one, and the reason Fannie Flag's book ("Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe") was put to screen by Universal and director Jon Avnet. Two young women operate a cafe in a small Alabama town in the '30's, where things are pretty progressive. Whites and blacks have civil relations, and the rednecks that roll down the main street waving guns in the air are shunned as being the village idiots. But complexity exists in the cafe, for there are lesbian undertones to the relationship between its two operators. There's a murder mystery in the past and the salvaging of another troubled woman in the future setting, and one of the film's weaknesses is its inability to switch between times with ease. For women especially, the film will send you to the box of tissues repeatedly, and some have criticized the film for trying too hard for a melodramatic punch. Whether that's true or not, one fabulous element of the film is Thomas Newman's score. While already an established name, Newman was still a few years away from his mainstream discovery and handful of Academy Award nominations. It also happened to come before Newman surprised orchestral film fans with his masterful symphonic scores of 1993 and 1994, and well before he returned to his experimental roots in electronic and world-instrument sounds thereafter. Whenever you hear or read discussions about Thomas Newman two decades later, you often hear people classify (or attempt to) each of his recent efforts into either period of his production, and for the most part, these classifications can be accurate. To its credit, Fried Green Tomatoes exists outside of this debate.
If forced into one of the two "trademark" Thomas Newman sounds, Fried Green Tomatoes would fall in line with the large symphonic scores that he produced with great results. But the score also features some of the intense creativity of instrumentation and genre-bending characteristics of his post-modern efforts as well. In these regards, Fried Green Tomatoes is one of the finest scores of his career, not on par with Angels in America in its grandeur, because it's a highly personal score, but almost equal in quality. The melodramatic nature of the story causes the necessity for a orchestrally thematic score, and among Newman's works, Fried Green Tomatoes is more loyal to its primary two themes than most others in his career. Often carried by solo woodwinds, one theme in the score features a lyricism and innocence that borders on Rachel Portman territory (which is odd... those two have nothing in common musically). An earnest and tonal approach to even the darker cues keeps the score a pleasant listening experience. The second theme is one of spirit and pizzazz, often existing over bluesy rhythms of guitar and piano that will remind of Jerry Goldsmith's stylish Love Field. The slide guitar, light percussion, and piano in the two "Night Baseball" and "The Bee Charmer" cues have undeniable charm in their smooth rhythms and sense of humor. The "Ghost Train" title cue is a highlight of Newman's entire career, opening with an ominous crescendo of suspense before bursting into the Southern rhythms with remarkable brass counterpoint and swinging woodwind solos. An indispensable aspect of the score is Marion Williams' soulful vocals, a highlight of the rhythmic cues. A satisfying bass and remarkably crisp sound quality also adds to the appeal of the score; in "Ghost Train," the bass is impressive and the clear recording quality allows even the whispery flutes to have a positive fluttering effect over the top. On its own, the score has no weaknesses, though the album does. The traditional songs performed by Williams break up the flow of the score (though the reverberating honky tonk "The Town Follies" cue fares better), and a short running time could leave you wanting more. The rare score-only album followed a song album that featured only five minutes of score, but it'll be worth the price for fans of Tom Newman and beyond.
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