The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio

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

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jane Anderson
Written by	Jane Anderson
Based on	The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio by Terry Ryan
Produced by	Jack Rapke Steve Starkey Robert Zemeckis
Starring	Julianne Moore Woody Harrelson Laura Dern
Cinematography	Jonathan Freeman
Edited by	Robert Dalva
Music by	John Frizzell
Production companies	Revolution Studios ImageMovers
Distributed by	Go Fish Pictures[1]
Release date	October 14, 2005 (2005-10-14)
Running time	99 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$12 million[2]
Box office	$689,028[2]

Plot

In Defiance, Ohio, housewife Evelyn Ryan managed to support her husband, Kelly, and their 10 children by winning jingle-writing contests. Kelly failed to support his family, in part due to apparent alcoholism and low self-esteem. He dreamed of being a singer but lost his singing voice in a car accident, and was often cruel, abusive, and prone to violent outbursts when he is drunk.

Evelyn wins useful things such as a large freezer, ice buckets, a washer and dryer set, a trip to New York City, a window, a sports car, a shopping spree in her local grocery store, and ice crushers; as well as less useful or necessary things like sleds, boots, a pony, a palm tree, a camera, dance shoes, a boat motor, pogo sticks, a case of dog food, and a lifetime supply of bird seed, which she exchanges for money. Kelly, who feels like his role as provider for the family is being threatened, criticizes Evelyn and damages the prizes she wins. Their children side with her. Kelly gets angry at Evelyn, and accidentally 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. As time passes, the older children start moving out for college and participating in sports careers, lessening some burdens on the family.

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.

Years later, it is revealed that after Kelly died, Evelyn finds out that he has placed his pension checks in a bank account especially for her to make up for all the failures he made as a husband and father. The actual Ryan children are then shown as adults.

Cast

• Julianne Moore as Evelyn Ryan
• Woody Harrelson as Leo "Kelly" Ryan, Evelyn's husband
• Laura Dern as Dortha Schaefer
• Monté Gagné as Lee Ann Ryan, Evelyn & Kelly's first daughter (age 17)
• Robert Clark as Dick Ryan, Evelyn & Kelly's first son (age 16)
• Michael Seater as Bub Ryan, Evelyn & Kelly's second son (age 15)
• Jack Murray as Rog Ryan, Evelyn & Kelly's third son (age 17)
  • Erik Knudsen as Rog (age 13)
• Trevor Morgan as Bruce Ryan, Evelyn & Kelly's fourth son (age 16)
  • Jake Scott as Bruce (age 11)
• Ellary Porterfield as Tuff Ryan, Evelyn & Kelly's second daughter (age 13, 16 & 18)
  • Jordan Todosey as Tuff (age 9)
• Brendan Price as Mike Ryan, Evelyn & Kelly's fifth son (age 13)
  • Evan Rose as Mike (age 10)
  • Ryan Price as Mike (age 6)
• Melanie Tonello as Barb Ryan, Evelyn & Kelly's third daughter (age 11)
  • Jessica Pollock as Barb (age 8)
  • Shae Norris as Barb (age 4)
• Julia Megan Thompson as Betsy Ryan, Evelyn & Kelly's fourth daughter (age 9)
  • Emily Persich as Betsy (age 6)
  • Abigail Falle as Betsy (age 2)
• Connor Sharp as Dave Ryan, Evelyn & Kelly's sixth son (age 7)
  • Maxwell Uretsky as Dave (age 4)
  • Luca & Brandon Barbara as Baby Dave
• Simon Reynolds as Ray the Milkman

Critical reception

The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio received mixed reviews, garnering a 59% approval rating on film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, with an average score of 6.10/10, based on 83 reviews. The site's consensus states: "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."^[3] Metacritic reported a score of 58/100 (citing "mixed or average reviews"), based on reviews from 28 critics.^[4]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three-and-a-half out of four 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".^[5]

Home media

The film was released on DVD on March 14, 2006, with DreamWorks taking distribution, instead of their independent banner, Go Fish Pictures, which had theatrical rights to this film.