The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio
Promotional poster
Directed by	Jane Anderson
Produced by	Jack Rapke Steve Starkey Robert Zemeckis
Written by	Jane Anderson
Based on	The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less by Terry Ryan
Starring	Julianne Moore Woody Harrelson Laura Dern
Music by	John Frizzell
Cinematography	Jonathan Freeman
Edited by	Robert Dalva
Production company	ImageMovers Revolution Studios
Distributed by	DreamWorks Pictures
Release dates	September 2005 (United States)
Running time	99 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$12 million^[1]
Box office	$689,028^[1]

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio is a 2005 biographical film written and directed by Jane Anderson. It is based on the book by Terry Ryan. The film stars Julianne Moore, Woody Harrelson and Laura Dern. The film received a limited release on October 14, 2005.

Plot

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio is based on the true story of housewife Evelyn Ryan, who helped support her husband and ten children by winning entries in jingle-writing contests.

Evelyn's husband, Kelly, failed to support his family in part due to apparent alcoholism. He had dreamed of being a singer but lost his singing voice in a car accident, and was often cruel and abusive.

In the movie, Evelyn wins a large freezer, ice buckets, a washing machine, a trip to New York, sleds, boots, a pony, a palm tree, a window, a sports car, a shopping spree in her local grocery store, ice crushers, a camera, dance shoes, a boat motor, pogo sticks, a case of dog food, and a lifetime supply of bird seed. Kelly, who feels like his role as provider for the family is being threatened, criticizes Evelyn and sometimes damages the prizes she wins. Their children side with her. At one point, Kelly gets angry at his wife and knocks her over while she is carrying 12 full glass bottles of milk, causing her to nearly sever a ligament. Evelyn is able to talk him down after each incident and, temporarily at least, he treats her better.

Evelyn is largely isolated because of the hours she has to spend caring for the children and the lack of local intellectual equals. However, she is contacted by a group of other contest-entering mid-western housewives and befriends them.

Ultimately, Evelyn discovers that Kelly had secretly taken out a second mortgage on their house and never made payments on it, leaving the family subject to an almost-certain foreclosure. The children pray for their mother's miraculous victory in a contest sponsored by Dr Pepper. She wins and pays the mortgage on the house.

In the closing sequence, set years later, we learn that after Kelly died, Evelyn finds out that he has placed his pension checks in a bank account especially for her. The actual Ryan children are then shown as adults.

Cast

Julianne Moore as Evelyn Ryan
Woody Harrelson as Leo "Kelly" Ryan
Laura Dern as Dortha Schaefer
Trevor Morgan as Bruce
Simon Reynolds as Ray the Milkman
Monte Gagne as Lee Ann Ryan
Jordan Todosey as Young Tuff Ryan
Ellary Porterfield as Tuff Ryan

Critical reception

The film received mixed reviews, garnering 57% on film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with an average score of 6/10, based on 82 reviews.^[2] Metacritic reported a score of 58/100 (citing "mixed or average reviews"), based on reviews from 28 critics.^[3] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3¹⁄₂ out of 4 stars, remarking that the movie "avoids obvious sentiment and predictable emotion and shows this woman somehow holding it together year after year, entering goofy contests that for her family mean life and death."^[4]

Home media

The film was released on DVD on March 14, 2006.

References