The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (2005)

Good movie but grossly overrated

A Masterpiece!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I watched THE PRIZEWINNER OF DEFIANCE, OHIO on DVD two nights ago and was deeply moved by it. Yesterday, as I had my sister (58) and my aunt (77) visiting for the day, I suggested that we watch it together and both of them were also very taken by the film. I think most people, and especially women who lived through the fifties and sixties, can relate to the story of this American family. The whole era is brought back to us in a very intelligent and accurate way, giving us images that are historically correct, often amusing and quite emotionally charged at times. The director must be praised for her masterful adaptation of the original novel and sensitive rendition of the screenplay in cinematic terms. Superb art direction and cinematography make meaningful contributions to the overall quality of the film. The cast is uniformly excellent even to the smallest parts. Woody Harrelson and Julianne Moore are nothing short of outstanding in their respective roles. This is a film that should find a wider audience, given the beauty of its message and its quiet, honest and highly effective emotional content.

Here we have a movie about a bright and creative woman who for some reason chooses to make a life with a man who can only be described as a stupid drunk. They then compound the problem by having a huge number of children they can't afford to feed, and home life is very precarious. We learn nothing of the woman's own background that would help us understand why she made such poor choices for her life. The feel-good ending implies that her children turned out happy and successful, but what a lot they were put through to get there! This is a maudlin movie that is more pathetic than inspirational, because the heroine doesn't overcome adversity so much as bring it upon herself. I assume the book must have been better.

This movie has been played close to 100 times in the last 5 months on TV, but in was on the high end channels' 370 to 380 digital. Later it had gotten down to lower channel 149 to 171. These are commercial free and I'm glad I taped it as a favorite family movie. I hope this movie is someday shown on the regular 2 digit channels so more people can see it, like they did with "October Sky". In the movie, the dress code seemed right for the time period. Of course, after seeing the movie I had to go to the internet to dig up everything a could on the Ryan family. Just a few minutes ago, I found the Terry (the writer) had died of cancer a couple of months ago. It was great that the book came out and was made into movie. Of course, Terry herself, showing that old typewriter, was in it at the end as well as all the Ryan children. It was a good ending to a good movie.

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.