Release Date: March 14, 2006
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio stars Julianne Moore and Woody Harrelson and is based on a true story and book, The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids in 25 Words or Less, which describes the focus of the movie.
The Film
Evelyn Ryan (Moore) is a devoted housewife and mother of 10 in the 1950s. A time period perfect for Moore since she looks so classic and has played a 50s housewife in Far From Heaven and The Hours. Her husband (Harrelson) can't seem to make ends meet, especially since most of his paycheck goes to liquor. The mortgage payments and putting food on the table falls to Evelyn, defying conventions of the day. She continually finds a way to keep her family together by applying her resourcefulness and wit to winning poetry contests and writing jingles for prize competitions. She wins a supermarket shopping spree and other contests that provided washing machines and numerous other appliances the family couldn't afford to buy on their own. The contests even delivered small sums of cash to pay the milk man. The film focuses on the era of general sweepstakes that were open at the time and a common pursuit/hobby among housewives. This was interesting to me since I didn’t realize how almost every brand offered sweepstakes in order to entice consumers.
The film starts a little weird with Moore talking directly to the camera, but I enjoyed the television commercial-like feel to the audience address, which is what the film focuses on anyway -- late 50s advertising and women’s roles.
Harrelson, whom I've admired ever since his theater appearances in Rainmaker and An Average Day, does a good job playing a jealous and hapless 50s husband. It gets really annoying that they call each other ‘mom’ and ‘dad,’ I hate that, but it's a true story so I guess they have to. Prepare to get annoyed at the father's destructive character, but Harrelson plays the part well, and that's how he is able to draw that emotion out of you.
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