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THE PRIZE WINNER OF DEFIANCE, OHIO (2005) (***1/2)

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Set in the late ‘50s-early ‘60s, the film chronicles the ups and downs of the Ryan family from the point of view of its patriarch Evelyn (Julianne Moore, BOOGIE NIGHTS), who helps the large family make ends meet by entering every jingle or poetry contest that she can. If raising 10 kids wasn’t hard enough, her husband Kelly (Woody Harrelson, NORTH COUNTRY) is a drunk who spends their money frivolously and has a bad temper.

Evelyn, with dogged determination, puts a happy spin on all their problems big or small. Kelly, on the other hand, wallows in his sorrow. He is privately proud of his wife’s winnings, but publicly resents them because they make him feel like less of a man because he can’t support his family on his own. Tuff (Ellary Porterfield, TV’s STUCK IN THE MIDDLE WITH YOU) (who in real life wrote the memoir the film is based on) is the most out spoken of the children when it comes to the behavior of their father. Evelyn, like she always does, is honest about her husband to her kids, but can also highlight the good in him as well.

Director Jane Anderson (TV’s THE BABY DANCE) in her theatrical feature debut brings a fun whimsical feel to the film, which she balances nicely with the more heartrending and poignantly dramatic moments. Moore is wonderful as usual, but Harrelson is given a chance to create a wholly original character. His portrayal of Kelly is unique in the fact that it balances between raw childish anger and childlike vulnerability.

The picture not only pays great tribute to the women of the era in displaying just who difficult it is to raise so many kids, but also serves as a thoughtful portrait of the state of all women at the time. In one scene, the kids watch the Miss America pageant and when one of the contestants is asked if people should vote for a capable female candidate for president she replies that as long as the men are capable, people should vote for them instead, because women are emotionally unstable or something to that affect. You know that was the way it use to be, but it takes wonderful films like this one to remind us how far we really have come. The film is a powerful tribute to not only Evelyn Ryan, but to all the women who have sacrificed their dreams for the greater good of their families. Do not miss this charming film.

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Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks