The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio

[Rosie]

This film was suggested by Lizzie Maine and I'm so glad she mentioned it. Thanks Lizzie.

This movie stars the wonderful as always Ms. Julianne Moore who really is fantastic. Being the main character of the movie, she carries it as we see the film through her perspective and she is the narrator. This also stars Woody Harrelson who surprised me, I've not seen him take on this type of role in the past.

Ms. Moore plays Mrs. Evelyn Ryan a wife and struggling mom of 10 (yes, ten!) who helps make ends meet by participating in and winning contests. Her husband, while loving, isn't always supportive as he is dealing with his own issues of not being able to support his family the way he feels he should. This is a very emotional (I cried a couple of times), character driven film which I LOVED. Julianne Moore is so charismatic and I loved this family, I laughed and cried along with them. Laura Dern pops up for a very small role.

Costumes- I loved Ms. Moore's costumes. Being a gal with very strong leaning towards the '50s, it was great to see the clothes a regular woman would have worn as opposed to the Hollywood glamour we are used to seeing. She and the few other ladies in the film were dressed beautifully as suburban home makers and I even got a few ideas for some new dresses.

A must see.

 

[scotrace]

Agreed!

I loved this film. Woody Whatsisface was the one weak link for me. Maybe it was that goawdawful wig they put him in, or I just detested the character he played (LOSER!)

Excellent film.

 

[Feraud]

Thanks for the reminder. I saw the trailer for this movie a long time ago and wondered what happened to it.
I see that Netflix has it and I am adding it to my queue.
Isn't the story is based on an actual person?

 

[scotrace]

Isn't the story is based on an actual person?

Yes indeed.

 

[Feraud]

I am looking forward to seeing this one. Julianne Moore is a wonderful actress.

 

[Harp]

Julie

Juli Moore is sufficient reason to see this film; however, I cannot
say that I am a fan of her costar, so passed on it earlier.
May change my mind though.

 

[Rosie]

I loved this film. Woody Whatsisface was the one weak link for me. Maybe it was that goawdawful wig they put him in, or I just detested the character he played (LOSER!)

Excellent film.

Ha! I think it was a combination of that horrible wig (yuck!) and his character. I actually stopped the movie in the middle to complain about him, well the character. Mr. Harrelson did a decent job as I think we saw him as his wife and children saw him and not really as a full character if that makes any sense.

 

[LizzieMaine]

That's a good point -- the film really is being told thru the wife's eyes, so everything is going to be shaded by her own perspectives.

Woody seems to be one of those really polarizing performers -- most everyone either loves him or can't stand him, with very few in the "ehh, can take or leave him" camp. He doesn't actively annoy me the way some actors do (hello Sean Penn), but he can be very overbearing if the director doesn't rein him in. Given that this was Jane Anderson's first theatrical feature as a director (she's mostly done stage and TV-movies up to now,) I thought she did a very impressive job keeping Woody in line...

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

"The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio"

So, I've recently seen some of the trailers on several movie channel's for "The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio". The buzz I hear and the reviews I read sound good.
Julianne Moore plays Evelyn Ryan, who with her husband (played by Woody Harrelson) has 10 kids. The movie takes place in the 50's, times are tough, money is tight. Ryan enters one of the jingle contests popular during that era and wins. In a time when woman were housewives, she was the bread winner for her very large family.
Anyway, for those of you who like this particular era, this might be a good movie to watch. I've heard that it is an adequate representation of the life and times of the fifties.
Brief synopsis here

Anybody seen this?

 

[Mahinatakataka]

Sweet Film

So, I've recently seen some of the trailers on several movie channel's for "The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio". The buzz I hear and the reviews I read sound good.
Julianne Moore plays Evelyn Ryan, who with her husband (played by Woody Harrelson) has 10 kids. The movie takes place in the 50's, times are tough, money is tight. Ryan enters one of the jingle contests popular during that era and wins. In a time when woman were housewives, she was the bread winner for her very large family.
Anyway, for those of you who like this particular era, this might be a good movie to watch. I've heard that it is an adequate representation of the life and times of the fifties.
Brief synopsis here

Anybody seen this?

I think you'll like this Daisy As in The Hours and Far From Heaven, Julianne looks great in period clothes and does her usual "knock it out of the park" job with the role.

 

[Doctor Strange]

I recently had the DVD out of the library. I loved Far From Heaven, The Hours, The End of the Affair, etc., - basically, I've never seen JM give a bad performance - and I was very psyched... but I gave up on this flick about 15 minutes in.

The film had way too cutesy an approach for me. Julianne narrates, and *appears as the narrator in the same shot with another "herself" doing what she's describing*! I simply couldn't get this with this too-precious, awfully artificial technique. It seemed sitcomy and unnecessarily cute: a simple voiceover would have been better.

From what I could see in that 15 minutes, the 1950s costumes and sets were good. And as the weak husband, Woody Harrelson gives a surprisingly restrained performance, entirely without his usual schtick. But the film's storytelling just rubbed me the wrong way... Maybe I'll give it another try sometime.

 

[Feraud]

I liked the storytelling style but hated Woody's performance! His character was such a loser I was totally annoyed with Julianne Moore for putting up with him!

 

[Mahinatakataka]

Hi Feraud and Doctor Strange (as in Strangelove? One of my favorite films by my favorite director?)

I loved The Hours and Far From Heaven, too. Moody, interesting, entrancing films. But you're right, Prize Winner is a different kind of film for a period piece.

Woody is kind of an amazingly understated actor I think. In the past couple months, I've seen him ice skate (well) through Northern Country and sing and tell jokes (well) in Prairie Home Companion. It's interesting where he pops up and what he's doing in the film.

 

[Feraud]

Woody is kind of an amazingly understated actor I think.

I would not say I dislike Woody the actor but his role in the film.
For my money I will watch him in Kingpin any day!

 

[Mahinatakataka]

Kingpin

I would not say I dislike Woody the actor but his role in the film.
For my money I will watch him in Kingpin any day!

Never saw that. I'll have to check it out some time.

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

Anyway, thanks for all the info on the film. I guess with the mixed reviews, men seeming to not like it, women seem to like it; I will have to judge for myself! It seems like a film that I will enjoy. I am a fan of the cast members.

Feraud: KINGPIN!!! OMG!!!! Ok, it's one of those movies that you watch after coming home having too many drinks. Yes, Woody does get into character. I like Woody. But, man oh man, Kingpin???.......hmmm......(hehe) You never cease to amaze me lol :eusa_doh:

 

[Feraud]

Never saw that. I'll have to check it out some time.

You should see it. In fact, rent this as a double feature with The Big Lebowski. It'll make ya want to bowl.

Feraud: KINGPIN!!! OMG!!!! Ok, it's one of those movies that you watch after coming home having too many drinks. Yes, Woody does get into character. I like Woody. But, man oh man, Kingpin???.......hmmm......(hehe) You never cease to amaze me lol :eusa_doh:

Kingpin is good before or after drinks. Don't tell me you did not like Woody in Kingpin?
How about Natural Born Killers or A Scanner Darkly? Woody is quite the actor when he gets a "meaty" role.

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

You should see it. In fact, rent this as a double feature with The Big Lebowski. It'll make ya want to bowl.

Kingpin is good before or after drinks. Don't tell me you did not like Woody in Kingpin?
How about Natural Born Killers or A Scanner Darkly? Woody is quite the actor when he gets a "meaty" role.

I did like Woody in Kingpin, I was just kidding around with you
Natural Born Killers was great, one of my top favorite modern movies. He was wonderful in it. I've never seen Scanner Darkly, I will have to check it out, thanks for the info

 

[Mike in Seattle]

What a coincidence - I saw a commercial for it on Starz earlier this evening and opted for Mickey Spillane in The Girl Hunters on TCM instead - didn't realize it was playing this evening (it's just going off right now) but I definitely plan to watch it. But something interesting I learned - I hadn't heard of it before tonight (how I missed this post when it first appeared, I don't know) and looked it up on IMDB. It said there that the kids had saved all of her clothing and some of what Julianne Moore wore in the movie were actually Evelyn Ryan's clothing.

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

I finally saw it this evening on Starz. I must say that I enjoyed it very much. I thought Julianne Moore's performance was great. I didn't think that Woody was as bad as I thought him to be. I mean, he was no Larry Flint (he was amazing in that film, IMO), but he definitely gave me a good sense of what the real Kelley must have been like. I especially liked the portrayal of the relationship between Evelyn and Terry Ryan. I also found the ending quite moving.
Well, I enjoyed this film, just as you gals and some guys predicted. It held my attention, the clothes were great, the actors were very good. I found it moving at times.