The Prize Winner Of Defiance, Ohio Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
The true story of how a mother raised ten kids on twenty-five words or less.
This true-story-based bittersweet drama follows Evelyn Ryan (Julianna Moore) who was a housewife and a devoted mother of 10. Her remarkable ingenuity and an uncommon wit had success at the jingle contests staged by corporations to promote their products. Evelyn had found the way to keep her family together, notwithstanding an alcoholic husband and the other difficult circumstances.
| Julianne Moore | Evelyn Ryan |
| Woody Harrelson | Kelly Ryan |
| Laura Dern | Dortha Schaefer |
| Trevor Morgan | Bruce Ryan at 16 yrs |
| Ellary Porterfield | Tuff Ryan at 13, 16 & 18 yrs |
| Simon Reynolds | Ray the Milkman |
| Monté Gagné | Lea Anne Ryan at 17 yrs |
| Robert Clark | Dick Ryan at 16 yrs |
| Michael Seater | Bub Ryan at 15 yrs |
| Erik Knudsen | Rog Ryan at 13 yrs |
| Jake Scott | Bruce Ryan at 11 yrs |
| Jordan Todosey | Tuff Ryan at 9 yrs |
| Ryan Price | Mike Ryan at 6 yrs |
| Shae Norris | Barb Ryan at 4 yrs |
| Abigail Falle | Betsy Ryan at 2 yrs |
| Jane Anderson |
7.30 out of 10 (1470 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Ingenuity and resillience celebrated
posted on 18 May 2009This adaptation of Terry Ryan's memoirs of growing up in a large,Catholic family in Ohio was quietly released last fall and really probably would've fallen through the cracks completely had it not been for some nice word of mouth. Kind of a shame,really.Evelyn Ryan(Julianne Moore,as brilliant in fifties hoop-skirts and coif as she is as any other era)has made a career as a mother of ten children and as a jingle contest writer. It seems that,in Eisenhower-era America,corporations often appealed to the public for ideas for commercial diddies,and being of sharp eye,ears and mind watching television constantly and armed with notebook and pencil,she would craft together various jingles to mail off and would,remarkably,win a great many of the contests she'd entered. She'd become so persistent in sending jingles that she would mail multiple entries to single contests and enter them under the names of her kids. Her talent is not only uncannily bankable but proves to be vital as her husband,a basically nice guy with a bad drinking problem(Woody Harrelson,middle-aged and paunchy here)can't seem to make his Machinist job paychecks reconcile his liquor purchases to his responsibilities as a husband and father. Given his tendency to anger(particularly when drunk),he naturally starts to feel jealousy and this would create inevitable friction. Among the kids that is affected by this friction is daughter Tuff(Ellery Porterfield),who cannot understand why her upbeat,seemingly unflappable mom would tolerate(among other things)her unsteady dad and seemingly always-on-the-verge-of-disaster home life.This is one of those "This would be COMPLETELY unbelievable if it weren't true" stories,and one STILL is in wonderment of the elements of this tale(i.e. the amount of contests won and the fact that there were groups of women who wrote jingles non-professionally).Still,it's a unique and entertaining piece of nostalgia that makes up for what it lacks in "zazz"(i.e. sex and violence) with heart and intelligence. This might be still a little too steeped in "You go girl!" sentiment to escape the "Chick Flick" ephitet,but I feel like male or female can enjoy this story if they're willing to take in this all around well-acted(among others involved,Laura Dern as a fellow jingle writer and Trevor Morgan as son Bruce)tale of ingenuity and resillience. Quite a neat find on the rental counter!
It IS a Prize Winner!
posted on 28 Apr 2009This is one of those films lost in the "tracking" gutter of film marketing. In other words, it was not registering with the public so it got a very small release, and a very small audience. This is a shame because it is a "thinking person's Cheaper by the Dozen". It is a very fine movie that leaves you teared up at the end without a contrived plot. It is a true story with real people and they have real faults-yet they bring out the great and wonderful joys of life found by a woman in what most would consider a terrible circumstance.If you see one film on sheer recommendation this year, this is the film to see. I own a movie theatre in Kansas City and I am playing the film. We had 7 for the matinée that I sat in on one Saturday afternoon-I emailed my customers on Monday and implored them to see this wonderful film. The next Saturday I had 116 for the matinée! It goes on and on and I hope that it will be one of those undiscovered gems for many people this year.
Complete this Jingle with your Life
posted on 22 Apr 2009Well, in the past couple years, we've seen all sorts of explicit experiments in visiting the movie past. Some of these are simply through emulation: using old story and acting conventions, perhaps even old cameras, sets film stock and so on. Others visit the past in more clever and indirect ways. "Goodnight and Good Luck" was a thoroughly modern picture set fifty years ago and wearing that era like a costume. Gosh, now that I think, there are too many to list, each interesting in what they choose to use from the past and how they use them as objects or environments.Now this. Here's a case where the movie is a strange disappointment if you watch movies for the story as the direct carrier of its intent. Its confused beyond what the normal viewer can tolerate and where the filmmaker intends ambiguity and tension we get the impression the film is a failure. But it isn't; it is wholly realized, its just that the message is conveyed on the telephone wires next to the track instead of on the train.The story: a woman has ten kids and a husband who is a mean drunk. She's completely on her own; her priest (she's Catholic, obviously) and the local police buddy up to her husband against her. She's bright so she enters contests — a previously popular advertising gimmick — and wins enough to save her family (always at the very last moment) from certain disaster. The woman is played by Julianne Moore, and superficially she creates a woman who is defiantly happy no matter what. No matter what, even after negotiating charity from the milkman, then having her lousy spouse push her down breaking all the milk and seriously cutting her. Smiles still — to the hospital and back. So if you stick with the story, defiance is in her attitude and the prize is this sainthood granted her by her children, one of whom writes the thing.The narrative experiment and happy, happy gloss is established well before we know she's cursed by what feminists would rebel against. And its that narrative structure that you will find interesting.Julianne's character is the narrator. Often, she looks directly at the camera and speaks to us. Sometimes, she is on screen twice; once as the narrator and again oblivious to the fact she is being spoken about. This notion is extended by a gimmick. Her contests mostly are posed on TeeVee shows and there's a lot of overlap in several different ways between TeeVee space and narrator space. That narrator space gets pretty big; One example: our narrator explains how contests are judged. She sits on an envelope and flies to New York, following the entry. Another: she wins a sandwich slogan contest and the sandwich literally comes out of the screen with three dancing women in pastel dresses (like that of our heroine). They commingle with the narrator-TeeVee-contest space which by that time we've accepted as her private refuge from reality. Later, the house becomes populated not with actors playing the ten children, but the actual children themselves, now grown of course. In this sequence we see the daughter who wrote the book take her mom's typewriter.Its scads more sophisticated than say, what Woody Allen did in "Purple Rose of Cairo." But it reads.And it works — if you allow it — because Julianne knows how to place two persons in one role, what I call folded acting; two skins one hers and one ours.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.
They don't make them like that anymore
posted on 02 Apr 2009In my endless quest to find a good offbeat story, I landed on this "indy" film. I'm glad I did. I know I like a film when I am willing to re-watch it with the director's commentary, as I did here (although the director's not easy to listen to).The most fascinating aspect of this story is how this woman, or any woman, could possibly keep a household of 12 together. Even a non-alcoholic bank president would have a hard time keeping up with the bills of this small army of a family.Of course the catch in this film is Evelyn's talent for winning mostly small, but sometimes large prizes for writing jingles. This makes an otherwise pedestrian story interesting, especially when the winnings pull the family from the brink several times.I never did like Woody (starting with Cheers), so I had to overlook his stiff, strange demeanor in this movie too. Overcoming his and Julianne's good fitness and physique was also necessary to believe the story. Overcoming the apparent lack of cooperation from at least the older kids to run the household ("go watch TV kids while I make dinner") was also required to believe.Overall, I enjoyed this portrait of 50s America. It's was a simpler era, where people had fewer options to diverge from their traditional roles, and thus begrudgingly (or in this case cheerfully), accept all that went with them.A must see for all that think life is difficult today.
Organization over storytelling
posted on 27 Mar 2009Did this movie seem a bit lifeless to you? Did it seem at times claustrophobic, slow and lugubrious? Were you wondering, what is the point? Then by all means, don't watch the director's comments. It will bring the experience to a screeching halt.Every scene was clean and tidy. Everyone was in their places. Control was omnipresent. The director was not being a director so much as a compulsive tidier and organizer. All life was drained out of this film. And I must ask – was it really that great an idea or story to begin with? Perhaps with some re-working the story could have been more dynamic, but as it was, who really wants to watch a peppy woman sit in front of a TV set with her 10 children, watching, with a notebook in her hand while her husband in the kitchen has a boring temper tantrum because "he doesn't live up to the image of what it means to be a man in the 50s?" A big mistake was made in emphasizing the whole contest angle (& secondarily, some predictable commentary on being a woman in the 50s) over the soul of a woman who not only had 10 children and a drunk for a husband, but raised her children well (apparently) and kept her composure doing it (supposedly). The children were abstractions - punctuation marks, wallpaper; again, the focus was on clean and tidy scenes, on set design rather than storytelling.As for the mother, Evelyn Ryan, herself, one suspects that in actuality she was a bit saucier in real life, and probably had her own temper tantrums from time to time. Sometimes the movie rang false because of its seemingly childlike insistence on seeing the mother as a saint. We get it: she took lemons and made lemon aide, but she did so in a flat way that did not engage the viewer's credulity, imagination or intellect. Perhaps that's really how it was.Technically semi well- but unimaginatively-done.
A Genial Film Carried by Moore's Marvelous Performance
posted on 23 Mar 2009Julianne Moore is a wonderful actress. In "The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio," she gets no big showy scenes, no moments where she acknowledges her own talent by ACTING. There are no breakdowns, crack ups, manias or histrionics. The movie goes down easy and, once the DVD player has been turned off, is just as easy to forget.But I woke up the morning after having watched this movie thinking about Julianne Moore (and no, not in THAT way). I realized that this disarmingly unshowy performance had a powerful impact on me; through an accumulation of small, quiet moments and carefully crafted acting choices, Moore creates a full-bodied, rich and entirely satisfying character out of material that threatens at every step to descend into irretrievable schmaltz. It's a small miracle of acting.Unfortunately, Woody Harrelson does not fare as well. His blustery, childish and pathetic father is believable only about 50% of the time. The movie is almost ridiculously one sided, and it's only Moore's expert and disciplined handling of her role that prevents the mother from coming across as too good to be true.The material is gooey and sentimental, but it's surprisingly less sentimental than I feared it would be. And anyway, sentiment like this I can forgive, since I'm bound to be a slobbery sentimental mess about my own parents some day too.Grade: B+
A winner, if ever I saw one!
posted on 19 Mar 2009I adored the book from the first time I read it, but until now, couldn't comment on the movie as I hadn't been able to see it. But last night changed all that, and I watched the DVD, along with my ever supportive spouse, who knows just how much this story has meant to me since that fateful day in 2001 when I first heard of the book through a review in UK contesting club newsletter...How wonderful it was to see all the Ryan's spring to life on my TV screen. I felt I was up there with them, knowing the story as I do, and I relished every moment.Julianne Moore was superb. She didn't just act a part, she became the very essence of Evelyn Ryan, gently and wisely guiding her children; patiently including and coaxing the bitter and frustrated Kelly into their tight-knit circle - rather like you would an unhappy and lonely child. Woody Harrelson excelled himself as the alcoholic and angry man who couldn't cope with his burden; relying grudgingly on his wife's wins, to get by.How different the family's lot would have been had Evelyn struck out against her circumstances and left Kelly - which she would have been quite justified in doing. Evelyn wasn't over-saintly or downtrodden (as a few critics have described her) but was someone who wisely knew there was little point trying to change things that couldn't be changed, if she wanted to keep her family intact.Especially poignant and moving, were the parts where Evelyn comforted Tuff, and explained why she put up with things as she did. And when little Dave solemnly tells his Mom the flowers he'd just gathered from their neighbour's were beautiful and were obviously picked with his love for her... There was no angry outburst or remonstration from Evelyn; just a loving mother understanding of a little boy's gift of love – a generous gesture, given the enormous pressures she was under.Evelyn Ryan was all about commitment to see something through, whatever it took. She wasn't a victim - she was a winner. As was this film. It's no substitute for the book, as so much had to be missed out to allow the story to fit into its time slot. But it is a good film worthy of seeing, and beats many other movies of 2005 hands down!
A feel-good movie
posted on 23 Feb 2009I don't remember hearing about this movie in trailers or on TV or even on the internet. But, I was surfing through our Pay-Per-View and came across the title and was interested. As I read about who was in it and the summer, "a woman who tries to raise her 10 children in a small town off of winnings from contest entries, set in the 50s era", I thought, I would like to learn more. So I ventured over to IMDb.com to find out more. It sounded so interesting, that I gave it a try.It was well worth it. I think I cried the entire movie, whether it was due to laughter or sadness. I thought it was so very creative. It reminded me of a Doris Day movie, with all the scenes overlapping and colors. It was fantastic. And the ending, which I will not give away, left me feelings so happy, while tears streamed my face.I would highly recommend this movie to anyone, and have! The actors were magnificent, not just Julianne Moore and Woodly Harrelson, but the kids, as well! So believable and just a good feeling movie!
A nice film
posted on 09 Feb 2009Has this film been released yet? I worked on it and enjoyed the people on set, the real family, and the actors who played the kids in different ages as the film progressed. The real family are my age, and I worked in a theater when i was a teenager, and can relate to the context of this project. Julianne Moore plays an excellent part as Mrs Ryan, very accommodating to the crew and cast and very professional caring out her craft. Woody Harrelson is a very interesting person who is really into recycling and saving the universe from us. He had a Hybrid car for long distant set transport, He had a electric two wheeled drive, side by side cart affair than went 10 miles on a full charge.I watched him go up a hill at like 10 miles an hour. This was a large and long hill. He also arrived on set in a motor home that ran on gasoline and used vegetable oil. The joke on set was that he filled up a MacDonald's
This would be a great SHORT film.
posted on 07 Feb 2009Other than some good acting from Julianne Moore and a few cool visuals from the production design department, I found this film exceptionally dull. The characters had no place to go emotionally, and the plot just repeats the same scenario over and over and over again, which gets really boring really fast. Because of this repetition, the plot just stalls, and I was left knowing exactly what the result of every scene would be after the third or fourth time. Additionally, the film felt like it was a "staged play," very non-cinematic, with the camera in the wrong place with really uninteresting angles. I can't help but wonder if the director came from theatre. I find it frustrating when theatre directors don't understand cinematic language before they make a film.
Great movie
posted on 01 Feb 2009I thought this was an excellent movie.Too bad Hollywood can't seem to come up with more movies with this caliber of performance.Each actor did a great job of conveying a message of hope through bad times.Woody was perfect as the part of an alcoholic father and husband.I also enjoyed seeing the old cars and appliances that were produced in the earlier years.I am 50+ years in age,and the movie brought back a lot of memories of the things that I experienced because I grew up during those years.The movie flowed from year to year with excellent continuity.I would recommend this movie to anyone,especially if they are over forty!
A mantra more out of touch than that of Pangloss or Pollyanna.
posted on 30 Jan 2009A chum in my 1960's college career regularly paid expenses by winning jingle contests, mostly limericks about a product such as soap powder or appliances. The new film Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio depicts a mother of 10 children winning such contests in order to keep her family going. Julianne Moore successfully plays Evelyn Ryan as an eternal optimist plagued by an abusive alcoholic husband, Kelly, in a turn that should earn Woody Harrelson a supporting actor Oscar nomination. Her mantra that anything is possible seems even more out of touch than that of Pangloss or Pollyanna.Evelyn is reminiscent of Cathy Whitaker, the housewife Moore played in Far From Heaven, set in the fifties and fraught with social and sexual repression. Evelyn's life in Defiance is much simpler: Make enough to get along and add your husband to the list of children you take care of. The chance to win corporate prizes in contests was soon to cease, probably because the lottery style reached more contestants, partly because the literacy talent of Americans was waning quickly, and partly because of the emergence of professional marketing poets.Prize Winner catches the innocence of the prosperous post-war years, uncomplicated by computers, drugs, and hyper marketing, in a time when one of the Ryan children caught stealing money could decide to do time or join the army—simple choices devoid of messy counseling or meddling attorneys. Even the parish priest is uncomplicated enough to suggest Evelyn's marriage would be better if she made a better home for her husband, even though one of the kids observes the priest's breath is like her dad's. The local police are pretty much the same in dealing with their sports buddy's alcoholic abuses.The film could have been immeasurably helped by expanding the role of Lora Dern's Dortha Schaefer, a soul mate writer who heads the "Contester Club" of talented writers like Evelyn and by reducing Kelly's obnoxious presence, felt in almost every frame. Yet, it's Kelly who accurately describes the almost saintly character of his wife: "You know what your problem is? You're too damn happy." Happy days also gone but not forgotten by a current generation that tries to find a secret in the 50's it can apply to a contemporary age where just being witty, ambitious, and faithful is not enough to guarantee happiness.By the way, my contest-winning friend from college left this life 20 years later from success acting in the porno industry, whose prize was a bad case of AIDS.
Eternally Half-Full
posted on 26 Jan 2009Greetings again from the darkness. It definitely helps to understand before viewing this film that the screenplay and source material were written by Terry "Tuff" Ryan, one of the kids in the family. It is really a tribute to Terry's mother, Evelyn, played remarkably well by Julianne Moore.Evelyn Ryan was a devoted mother, eternal optimist and pillar of silent strength during the 50's and 60's when men were supposed to be the breadwinners and mothers the perfect homemakers. To "help" support her family and keep intact some portion of her own being, Ms. Ryan excelled at contesting by writing jingles and advertising slogans for products. The timing of her victories appear almost heaven sent. One can't help but notice the Catholic overtures throughout the story, including a clueless priest with "breath like daddy's". We do get a true understanding for the strength of this woman and how she passed it along to her 10 children. Family means everything to her.Woody Harrelson plays the alcoholic dad and he attempts to capture the pressure of being the provider for a much too large family on a machinists wages. Of course the money doesn't go as far after buying a six pack and a pint after work everyday. Even though the film has many aspects of a play, I never had the feeling that Harrelson wasn't acting. He never became Kelly Ryan. He was always Woody Harrelson with bad hair and glasses and a beer belly prosthesis. His violent outbursts and follow-up pleads for mercy all lacked a sense of feeling and this really prevented the film from taking the next step for me.Expect Julianne Moore to receive Oscar consideration and I really enjoyed Ellary Porterfield (as teenage Tuff). Watch for SNL's Nora Dunn as one of the Girl jingle singers. The movie is not great, but the subject matter is. I will definitely read the book and have director Jane Anderson to thank for that.
good enough to write my first IMDb comment
posted on 06 Jan 2009Julianne Moore is my new favorite actress after watching this. Her strength in the face of adversity and her attitude toward these obstacles are truly inspiring. While many Mcarthy era, anti-communist stalwarts were encouraging women to give up their careers for the "luxury" of a home-life in the name of "domestic containment", this movie shows that the 50s were not all suburban affluence (I'm sure raising ten children must be hard in any era). The relationship between Moore's character and the character "Tuff" is truly touching. It's not cliché, but instead subtle and seemingly real. It makes me want to call my mom right now. The last few scenes made me cry like a little kid. I'm just glad no one was around to see me!
Inspiring Gem
posted on 05 Dec 2008It's a shame that so few people saw this film (due to pitiful promotion), because I believe that there is an audience for films of this type: call them heartwarming, family-oriented, uplifting, nostalgic, sentimental (but not sappy), inspiring, and funny. My 13-year old daughter loved it; my sixty-something parents loved it (and were not offended by anything in it, which is so rare!)The performances were stellar, not that you would expect less from Julianne Moore. In fact, she's so effortlessly Evelyn Ryan that you may forget to be impressed (but you should be!) Woody Harrelson is nearly unrecognizable as her weak drunkard of a husband, Kelly. It would have been easy to have made Kelly Ryan a cardboard caricature of a drunken Irishman, but instead he is complex--by turns charming, frightening, funny, pitiable. The period details are spot on (dig the tiny cart at the grocery store!) and are an integral part of the story. (The whimsical jingles that appear throughout the film are completely of their time.) That this story is based in truth makes it that much better. I found so much admirable in Evelyn Ryan, so much worth emulating: her fighting spirit, her happy outlook, her fortitude, her patience.This film was like a love letter from Evelyn Ryan's daughter Tuffy (who wrote the book upon which this was based). Check out it out and see if you don't fall in love with this woman and this family, too.
Disturbing and Depressing
posted on 01 Nov 2008Described as a "witty and engaging comedy" this movie depicts a smart, pretty woman who is trapped in a bad marriage because of the constraints placed upon her by society and the Catholic church. Although she is to be commended for her ability to provide for her family of 10 children by writing jingles, it is terribly depressing to know that she can't escape her dismal situation. The home environment is extremely unhealthy and it's hard to feel anything but contempt for a woman who continues to breed with a man who sucks the wind out of everyone's sails at every opportunity. I'm guessing that the father was bi-polar and he self medicated himself with alcohol. Not only does he not provide financially for his family, he continually ruins their fun by being abusive in so many ways. This movie reminded me of Angela's Ashes in that regard.I watched about half of the movie and had to stop...I don't even care how the story ends (hopefully she kicked his sorry a** to the curb). I enjoyed the sets, costumes, etc. but the plot was simply too disturbing. The mother's method of coping with the terrible situation was to carry on as if everything was OK while her children suffered the emotional damage.
Don't miss this one!
posted on 22 Sep 2008Everyone involved with the making of the Prize Winner, from Jack Rapke and Jane Anderson down to the caterers, are to be commended for bringing a special kind of love to this project. Part of the reason this movie is sometimes misunderstood is because truth is stranger than fiction. That one woman could accomplish so much without traditional financial resources or a political power base seems improbable to parts of today's audience. Evelyn Ryan fought and won a spiritual battle in the privacy of her own home, without a team of advocacy specialists or whining support groups. If a fiction writer had tried to invent her, she would have been clobbered. As it is, there is big family of descendants and a whole town of folks who remember Evelyn and her brood. This stuff really happened. And it's a great story.
Captured The Era/True to the Book
posted on 10 Sep 2008Don't mean to be too exuberant, BUT this was a heart-warming movie. Woody Harrelson is perfect in his pathetic role as loser. (Consider "Palmetto" and "The Money Train.") He is a winner at this type of role. Yet, in his portrayal of this father of a large family and the husband of a "stand by your man" and "look to the sunny side of life" woman. Woody manages to evoke our pity and makes us reach for understanding. A terrific supporting role.Julianne Moore, the star of the movie, is the heroine, the mainstay who keeps everything together. Never been out of her little town of Defiance, Ohio(it's real, look it up!) until one of her daughters drives her to Goshen, Indiana. What an adventure! 100 miles from home. A different state, even though its hard to tell. This daughter is the story teller, the author of the best selling book that became a movie. She captures the 1950s, the silly excitement of writing a catchy commercial phrase, and the heroism and humor of a large family growing up in an era long gone.It will not be a blockbuster. Opening night, which we wouldn't have missed, was in a large, mostly vacant theatre. Everyone clapped their approval at the close. I'm guessing that most of us had read the book before going.If you're one of those who haven't read the book, don't worry about it. The movie is like a "To Kill A Mockingbird," in that it captures the book beautifully. (Doesn't deny you the pleasure that comes from reading the book; but let's you in on the wonder of it all.) I have a feeling this movie will fade from view within a few weeks. It may also be one of those movies that ends up in the Academy Awards for best screenplay, best supporting actor, best actress. So, don't let it slip away without YOUR seeing it tomorrow or next weekend. These are the kind of movies, and the caliber of performances that are so rewarding you really need to give it a look see. (Then, buy the book!)
Superb movie, based on a true story, written by one of the children.
posted on 04 Sep 2008The beginning of the movie is set in the 1950s and 1960s, a time I am very familiar with. I grew up then and finished school. The movie very accurately depicted that period. It was a time when women were still mostly in the background, raising children and cooking meals, and to challenge the husband was rarely done.Julianne Moore is Evelyn Ryan, somewhat a saint of a mother who raised 10 children while her husband Kelly (Woody Harrelson) with a low self-image exhausted the family income via booze. They often had no money to pay the milk man, but Evelyn always seemed to find some joy in the moment. And she never admonished Kelly for his drinking.Evelyn's great talent was winning various contests. And not just the local ones, sometimes even big national ones worth thousands of dollars. Many times it was these winnings which enabled them to stay in their home.One of the children was 'Tuff' Ryan, one of the girls, who grew up to be the author of the book this movie is based on. In fact, all of the 10 children grew up to make something of themselves. In a key scene Evelyn tells Tuff that she has a wonderful mind and can accomplish anything she wants. Since Tuff is the author, we must assume its accuracy. But beyond that, I can relate. It was 1961 and one of my teachers told be just about the same thing and I recall that it changed my whole outlook. It was the first time anyone had told me that, and the first time I believed I could accomplish anything I set my mind to. We never know when the words we speak to children will have that same effect. Or, the opposite with ill-chosen words.We saw this on DVD. Near the end, a scene includes the real Ryan children, all in their 40s and 50s. And we see the mom character (Moore) sitting next to the real Tuff, and kissing her on the cheek. A superb ending for a wonderful movie of an inspiring story.
Horrifically Sentimental Clap-Trap
posted on 24 Aug 2009I admit it makes me see red when so many people so enthusiastically embrace a picture of life that not only reinforces every sexual stereotype the West has ever endorsed but also disingenuously tries to pass itself off as an ode to female empowerment. This movie wants it both ways and fails miserably on both counts. It doesn't have the courage of its convictions- too self-conscious of the miserably PC early 21st Century spin it wants to have when looking back on a "simpler" time (when men were men and women just took it like, well... men) and desperately craving mass-approval like some kind of demented puppy constantly stood on its hind legs- it just sits there like a pink elephant requiring nothing of its audience but to ooh and ah at its kitschy sprawl. Leave your mind at home should you venture out to see this one, folks. Because you'll be asked to swallow all sorts of hokum: Woody Harrelson's embarrassing "love me!" acting as he shies away from playing a semi-violent drunk is just one example. As for Julianne Moore, I figure that taking this role was quite the calculated choice on her part. None of those dark and difficult roles seem to have done her any good at Oscar time so she decided to do a 180 and take on the most sunny, inane role she could find. Well, the only person who could have possibly pulled off this syrupy mess was Lucille Ball. And even then we would have preferred watching her much more clever and subversive version of this role as Lucy Riccardo. Note to Julianne: I don't think this is Oscar year for you, either. Go back to P.T. Anderson, soon, please!If what you want from a night at the movies is mindless diversion posing as both entertainment and a moral message, then this is for you. All others need not apply at the box office.