Average Rating: 6/10
Reviews Counted: 82
Fresh: 47 | Rotten: 35
Noteworthy for Julianne Moore's performance, Prize Winner is nonetheless a largely indistinct and tentative film that fails to convey the true power of its bittersweet tale.
Average Rating: 6.1/10
Critic Reviews: 29
Fresh: 15 | Rotten: 14
Noteworthy for Julianne Moore's performance, Prize Winner is nonetheless a largely indistinct and tentative film that fails to convey the true power of its bittersweet tale.
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Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 17,948
The true story of one woman's effort to keep her family afloat under difficult circumstances comes to the screen in this bittersweet comedy drama. Evelyn Ryan (Julianne Moore) was a woman of intelligence, talent, and pluck living in the small town of Defiance, OH, in the 1950s. Evelyn was married to Kelly Ryan (Woody Harrelson), 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
Sep 30, 2005 Wide
Mar 14, 2006
$0.4M
Dreamworks Distribution LLC
All Critics (88) | Top Critics (30) | Fresh (48) | Rotten (37) | DVD (9)
It makes for a nice Mother's Day card. But not enough for a complete movie.
Rarely do you have a movie in which both lead actors give Oscar-worthy performances, but Defiance, Ohio is one.
For once, a true story gets no romanticizing or needless embellishment to become a captivating movie.
What distinguishes Anderson's work is her obvious empathy with all of her characters, including Kelly Ryan, whom she does not demonize.
Anderson can't do much with the inherent limitations of the hagiopic, which demands a repetitive litany of sacrifice and sanctity, with each hill and every valley designed to further enhance the landscape of inspiration.
There's not much to the film's story, but the characterization of a family's life is vivid and rich.
Charming but sometimes disturbing; best for teens and up.
Defiance, Where? Female Compliance Behind and Before The Camera
The script just dulls out.
This Prize Winner is a winner for its smart portrayal of a resourceful woman who loved her family, loved words, and loved life.
Far worse films with far lesser credentials have been given much fairer shots.
[Offers] an almost subversively idealistic subtext to a now-familiar ritual exposé of the American dream.
Moore delivers one of the best performances of 2005.
... in another director's hands ... might have devolved into a truly terrifying Lifetime-style screed against the oppressiveness of the masculine ego
...assembles an uneven but fairly inspirational package, manipulative in spots but with its heart in the right place.
In the end, Prizewinner is surprisingly uplifting and proves to be more of a timeless, genderless feel-good story than a period chick flick.
A housewife keeps her family from sinking into bankruptcy by winning ad-writing contests.The main plot line of this film, a productive and almost optimistic response to fifties patriarchal oppression, becomes obvious early on. But Evelyn Ryan's bright-eyed responses to her husband's insecure harangues make it hard to
October 14, 2011
Super Reviewer
The prize Winner of defiance, Ohio Is about Dysfunctional family trying to make ends meet. The father is abusive and has a drink problem that laeve the family with out money. The mother enters contests to money to make end meet. Will the family be able to staying one place or will the have to move?ProsGood acting and
July 1, 2011Super Reviewer
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