The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio" is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). In a deft insertion, the movie slyly alludes to that vintage daytime game show "Queen for a Day," which simultaneously enshrined and humiliated its desperately needy contestants. ... Full Review

While Moore is thoroughly winning as Evelyn Ryan, The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio ultimately rates no more than an honorable mention. However, since there's never any serious doubt that Evelyn will prevail, the film lacks emotional gravity. ... Full Review

Laura Dern is also the picture of cheery optimism....The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio" is the type of film likely to be critically shunned for its overt male-bashing and female martyrdom....if one gives oneself over to the melodrama, "Prize Winner" is perversely enjoyable.....The actress, because of her unusual freckled beauty that seems to typify an Eisenhower-era housewife, is typecast, again, as smart, clever Evelyn.....The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio" carries no surprises in its too sweet telling o ... Full Review

It's not a bad performance from Harrelson, but it feels more like a caricature portrayal than a well-rounded persona. A quality set of young actors fill in the children's roles well, and even the real-life Ryan kids make an appearance in the movie's end, which brings us up to speed on what happened to the family after the main events of the story depicted in the film. ... Full Review

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio , displayed with impeccable period detail, has its flaws.....The story, based on daughter Terry Ryan's 2001 book, is both quirky and simple..... ... Full Review

SOme of Them May Be Fictional, but These Portrayals Are of Everyday Women Doing Extraordinary Things They say that during hard times we like to go to the movies to escape. ... Full Article

Starring Julianne Moore as Evelyn Ryan, Woody Harrelson as her husband Kelly Ryan, Laura Dern as friend Dortha Schaefer, Trevor Morgan as son Bruce Ryan and Ellary Porterfield as daughter "Tuff" Ryan. ... Full Article

A shiny car! A washer-dryer! A pony! One overworked 1950s housewife wins these spoils and more in The Prize Winner of Definace, Ohio , a drama that suffers from silver-lining syndrome. ... Full Article

The 1950s and early1960s marked the beginning of the age of consumerism in America.Many companies began to capitalize on the economic boom that followed WWII by developing elaborate marketing and advertising campaigns to hock their products. ... Full Article

If it's otherwise idle hands in Hollywood who make sitcoms, does that officially make them the devil's work? Cuz it's always seemed that way to me, with the typical sitcom's idiotic pretense to ordinariness ( Everybody Loves Raymond and The... ... Full Article

"There was a time," asserts Evelyn Ryan (Julianne Moore), "when ingenuity and a little bit of luck could feed a family of 12." According to Jane Anderson's doting, adorable, and often disturbing The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio , Evelyn... ... Full Article