The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio is based on the true story of housewife Evelyn Ryan, who helped support her family by winning entries in jingle-writing contests.It features Julianne Moore,Woody Harrelson and Laura Dern. It is written and directed by Jane Anderson that is based on the book by Terry "Tuff" Ryan.Evelyn Ryan is a woman of intelligence, talent, and pluck living in the small town of Defiance, Ohio in the 1950's. Evelyn is married to Kelly Ryan, a man who gave her ten children but not much else. Kelly had a severe drinking problem, struggled to hold on to a job, and tended to spend his money as soon as he earned it. It was seemingly up to Evelyn to support the family, but with ten kids to look after, taking a job outside the home hardly seemed practical. But the resourceful Evelyn discovered a way to bring some extra money into the household at a time when a number of companies held contests to find new advertising jingles for their products, Evelyn had a genius for coming up with slogans and winning contests, and for the better part of a decade Evelyn kept food on the table and a roof over her head by dreaming up jingles, tag lines, and ad headlines and winning contests with her handiwork, often selling the merchandise she won to pay the bills.The Prize Winner is nonetheless a largely indistinct and tentative film that fails to convey the true power of its bittersweet tale for Anderson can't do much with the inherent limitations of the screenplay, which demands a repetitive litany of sacrifice and sanctity, with each hill and every valley designed to further enhance the landscape of inspiration.But nevertheless,it is noteworthy due to Julianne Moore's performance and the characterization of a family's life is vivid and rich.And most of all,it is a winner for its smart portrayal of a resourceful woman who loved her family, loved words, and loved life.

I expected an uplifting, nostalgic celebration of life in the 1950s, depicting an all-American family pulling together to surmount the obstacles and difficulties of life. Instead, I found myself enduring a grim and depressing story of a courageous woman married to a foul-mouthed, bitter drunk who never let go of his own disappointment with life long enough to rejoice in or appreciate the contributions of his wife in her heroic efforts to help provide for their family. The movie makers seem to have been bent upon tearing down the American family, and I don't enjoy movies that do that. If you want nostalgia, watch October Sky or It's a Wonderful Life, not this joyless, gloomy slog.

I was completely blown away by this movie. As far as I was concerned it was unappealing. It had an uninteresting cover and I'd never heard of it, but I decided to give it a shot and I am so glad I did!! The acting was very convincing and the story line was completely unexpected (considering that all I was going on was the title). This mother of 10 and wife was an unexpected hero and I am so glad that, not only was her story told, but that I was able to view this moving film. I have recommended this film to countless friends and now I am recommending it to you, especially to women. Watch the film and be inspired to be a better woman!

Yet another highly rated film on IMDb that makes me realize people crave over-sentimental, simplified Hollywood "this movie is based on a real story" junk. I'm a huge Julianne Moore fan (and loved her in The Hours and Far From Heaven, two much better films where she also explored the niche of the retro mom. Here the script left her without much to do.Woody Harrelson's over-the-top, padded pot-bellied father is a performance that would better fit on Saturday Night Live. It's cartoonish and clumsy, and certainly doesn't help the film to achieve any kind of resonance.Movies have tried this kind of glossy nostalgia about parents from the kid's eye view much better before. Compare this to Jean Shepherd's A Christmas Story. It seemed fresh and funny, also with voice over narration, but NOT with the jaw droppingly clumsy device of Julianne Moore walking through the film as "ghost mom". I was shaking my head in disbelief at the early scenes of Julianne Moore cuddling up to...Julianne Moore. Man, maybe it would have been ever better with THREE Julianne Moores! The ghost of Julianne Moore Past, The ghost of Julianne Moore PRESENT and the ghost of Julianne Moore YET TO COME.I know i'll be chastised and vilified by all the previous posters who "loved" this film. But so be it. It was a painful 96 minutes, and if I can save a few people the rental fee, I've done my job. PASS ON THIS ONE. I'm sure Woody and Julianne have already buried it in their filmographies. There's a reason it disappeared fast...trust me.