The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio
Julianne Moore plays Evelyn Ryan, a mother of ten who does everything in her power to keep a roof over her kids’ heads by entering contests and writing jingles for commercials. Set in the late 1950s through 1960s, this story is based on the true life struggles of Evelyn who manages to stave off hunger, eviction, the milkman’s bill and even foreclosure by writing clever jingles in a pasttime called “contesting” where thousands upon thousands of individuals – mostly women – became poorly paid telecommuters helping to create ads and catchy slogans for national companies before telecommuting was even a term.
The movie gives a glimpse of how life used to be, reminding us how far women and women’s rights have come. Woody Harrelson plays Evelyn’s husband Kelly – a man faced with his own demons in the form of alcohol and the dispair of losing his lifelong dream to settle into the job of factory worker. Kelly can’t quite ever get ahead by working at the factory and is completely indebted to his wife in an era when men are the king of the castle and women stayed home to take care of that castle.
While the movie attempts to portray time forgotten “contesting” lifestyle it is also a look into our collective souls bringing just a little light onto the long journey of alcoholism and domestic violence that bubbles not far under the surface of this film. That’s not to say that the movie is dark, but the grey does seep in no matter how cheerful the main character tries to remain.
This is one that can be seen with the kids.
