Defiance, Where? Female Compliance Behind and Before The Camera
Comment
02/10/07
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (2005)
58 %
Reviews Counted: 79 Fresh: 46 Rotten:33 Average Rating: 6/10
Consensus:
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.
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Synopsis: Julianne Moore returns to FAR FROM HEAVEN territory in THE PRIZE WINNER OF DEFIANCE, OHIO, which springs from the pages of Terry Ryan's memoir of the same name. Playing 1950s housewife Evelyn Ryan, who struggles to raise 10 kids while dealing with an alcoholic husband, Moore brings director... [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Julianne Moore, Woody Harrelson, Laura Dern, Simon Reynolds
Director: Jane Anderson
Screenwriter: Jane Anderson
Producer: Jack Rapke, Steve Starkey, Robert Zemeckis, Jonathan Freeman, Marty P. Ewing
Composer: John Frizzell
Screenwriter: Jane Anderson
Producer: Jack Rapke, Steve Starkey, Robert Zemeckis, Jonathan Freeman, Marty P. Ewing
Composer: John Frizzell
Reviews
This Prize Winner is a winner for its smart portrayal of a resourceful woman who loved her family, loved words, and loved life.
09/27/06
Far worse films with far lesser credentials have been given much fairer shots.
06/21/06
[Offers] an almost subversively idealistic subtext to a now-familiar ritual exposé of the American dream.
04/12/06
... in another director's hands ... might have devolved into a truly terrifying Lifetime-style screed against the oppressiveness of the masculine ego
01/02/06
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12/06/05
It makes for a nice Mother's Day card. But not enough for a complete movie.
11/10/05
...assembles an uneven but fairly inspirational package, manipulative in spots but with its heart in the right place.
11/09/05
What was wrong with it? Well, I can tell you in two words: Woody Harrelson.
11/07/05
In the end, Prizewinner is surprisingly uplifting and proves to be more of a timeless, genderless feel-good story than a period chick flick.
11/04/05
Just a run-of-the-mill homage to motherhood lifted from the ordinary only by Moore's natural radiance, and in the end that's not quite enough.
11/01/05
[W]hip[s] hardship into a nutrition-free froth of nostalgia and facile charm: it’s The Wonder Years as produced by Good Housekeeping magazine.
10/30/05
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10/29/05
Rarely do you have a movie in which both lead actors give Oscar-worthy performances, but Defiance, Ohio is one.
10/20/05
But even as Prize Winner goes through these odd motions to set Evelyn's taxing context and her admirable survival, its most extraordinary moment turns surreal.
10/14/05
For once, a true story gets no romanticizing or needless embellishment to become a captivating movie.
10/14/05
An uneven but loving tribute to a remarkable woman -- who would, undoubtedly, have wished to rewrite it herself.
10/14/05
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Great potential!
by: ldch1000 2/5/06
by: ldch1000 2/5/06
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• The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio at AskMen
• The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio at AskMen
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