The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Ellary Porterfield, Julianne Moore, Laura Dern, Trevor Morgan, Woody HarrelsonBrand: PARAMOUNT PICTURES
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 99 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-03-14
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Dreamworks Video
Movie Reviews of The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio
Movie Review: A wonderfully quirky real life story (well based on real life) about a marvellous woman and mother
Summary: 5 Stars
I knew nothing of the real life story behind the book when I began watching this movie. It struck me as a very strange story and one so absolutely unique that I wondered what its possible purpose could be as a work of fiction. While it captured some of what life was like in the 1950s, nearly all men were not mean-drunks (or drunks of any kind), nor had anyone I had ever known ever won a contest let alone try to make ends meet by winning them. It seems like ridiculously long odds to do so. While many working class families had to work to make ends meet on one income, and it was not unusual for women to not drive, they were definitely in the minority and almost extinct in the 1960s.
Still, the story was quite engaging and the mother (marvelously portrayed by Julianne Moore) is the kind of anchor that did keep such families together even with less than ideal husbands (to be fair, there were many men who kept their families together with less than ideal husbands. And in every marriage, both partners are actually less than ideal - just some more so than others.). Evelyn Ryan was a real life woman and this story was written by her daughter, Terry. The story seems a bit idealized, and the timing of the winnings seems a bit too convenient for reality, but the gestures and structure of the relationships do seem true and real.
The father, Kelly, was an alcoholic that was a particularly mean drunk. He hated his sense of impotence that came from providing so poorly for his wife and ten children and having to work as a laborer in a factory day after day, year after year. His wife's talents were beyond him and he resented her brilliance. Yet, he loved his children and his wife. When he was sober, he did OK most of the time, but he was not good with the family finances and the fact that in that time it was usually the man's prerogative to run them only added to the family's burdens.
Today, a woman as talented as Evelyn could do anything she wanted. And while she might have wanted to raise ten children (there is certainly nothing wrong with a woman being as fine a mother as she was), she might also have wanted to run her own ad agency or marketing firm and she certainly could have done that, as well.
The movie does have a fine heart and does a fine job of praising the mother without having to make the father into the villain. He does screw up, a number of times, but in the end, well, you have to see the movie. For me the single most touching scene is when the real life Terry holds her mom's typewriter in her lap and touches the last page her mom wrote.
Quite a worthwhile movie that I hope more people see on DVD than saw it in theaters. It deserves it. The story is told in a kind of quirky way, but I think the story is quirky enough to need it and it makes it all work well for me. Just settle in and go with the flow.
Summary of The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio
Anything is possible with a little laughter and a lot of heart in this incredible true story of an extraordinary woman who raised 10 kids on 25 words or less. Academy AwardŽ nominee Julianne Moore stars as Evelyn Ryan, a devoted housewife and mother, who uses her knack for words to win thousands of dollars in jingle contests to keep her family together. Also starring Academy AwardŽ nominee Woody Harrelson, this witty and engaging comedy celebrates the power of a winning spirit.Similar DVD Movies
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