Sep 30, 2005 5:09 pm US/Central
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio
Richard Roeper: "Rent It"
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Back in the Fifties, there was actually some skill involved in winning contests. You had to write commercial jingles, or explain why you loved Dr. Pepper in 25 words or less. And nobody was better at it than Evelyn Ryan.
Julianne Moore is the heart and by far the best thing in this based-on-fact story of Evelyn Ryan, a mother of 10 in small-town Ohio who keeps her family afloat by entering and winning lots of contests. Moore plays Evelyn as an unbelievably optimistic Mom who's almost Stepford-like in her upbeat attitude around the kids.
The movie is filled with light, stylistic touches, with Evelyn sometimes talking straight to camera, but this is no lark. The Ryans are often on the verge of poverty, and there's a dark monster banging about in the kitchen. Woody Harrelson is Evelyn's alcoholic husband Kyle.
"The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio" strikes two notes, again and again. We get the happy-happy scenes of Evelyn winning contests, bringing temporary happiness to the Ryan home. These alternate with dark, horrific scenes of Kyle getting drunk, screaming, breaking things and terrorizing Evelyn and the children.
Even dressed up with all sorts of cinematic gimmicks, the movie is just a bit too repetitive. "The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio," is rated PG-13. You can wait to
Rent It.
(© MMV, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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