Exoticalot
People are voting emotionally.
FuzzyTagz
If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.
Dana
An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
noelani54
This film isn't about anything of Earth-shattering importance, except to the real-life family whose story it tells. In it are many fine examples of how a wonderful woman, and loving, long-suffering, wife and mother, made things happen for her family, raising 10 happy and successful children, in spite of serious trials. Not only that, but she manages to keep smiling and looking at the bright side, through all but the most difficult. It's acted very well, although I will say that I found Woody Harrelson, as the father, in a red wig, pulled it down, in a few spots. I don't think the problem was his performance, I just don't think he was especially suited to the role.Overall, this film is VERY well worth the time to watch it!
Emily
Definitely a tug-at-your-heartstrings kind of movie. Based out of the 1960's, a woman deals with the struggles of being a stay-at-home wife to an alcoholic, a mother of ten children, and never having enough money to pay the bills and have food on the table. She begins entering contests (which were apparently very common in that time period), and to attest her writing abilities, winning them. The contests put food on the table, pay the mortgage, and buy the milk (often). Through the ups and downs of child rearing, her tumultuous marriage, and her winnings - this movie makes you truly feel like you understand their struggle. It never ceases to amaze what women went through in that era. Amazing woman, great movie. Would recommend.
secondtake
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (2005)A chipper, sometimes funny, sometimes balmy film about the brilliance and determination of one woman during the apparently naive commercial idiocy of the 1950s in the United States.And Julianne Moore nails it as Evelyn, making this quirky, lightweight story take on a tinge of truth and depth. Enough to make it a fun film, but also a trenchant one. At times.Woody Harrelson plays the husband here, with not quite as much conviction as you'd like (he's a better middle class grunt in "True Detectives"). And Laura Dern has a really small role as an echo of the housewife played by Moore. What the woman have in common here is not just willfully playing out their roles as homemakers, which is fair enough, and of secondary characters outside the home, which is not. They are also contest players—and winners. Evelyn in particular has a knack for a turn of phrase that fits the corny jingles and slogans of this pre- Mad Men era in advertising.Part of the appeal here is easily the re-creation of the world, with its cars and houses and clothes. And attitudes. I'm just young enough to not know if it's accurate, and just old enough to know that it's exaggerated. And yet tongue is not quite in cheek here. There's the feeling that this is all meant to seem exactly how it was, and that's where it's a little too "Donna Reed" all along. I can only assume that life was a little less shallow than it comes off here. But who knows? It did strike me that the timing was off at times, that the cars were at times too old for the year (back then, people in the suburbs upgraded their cars often), and the music was out of sync by far. The push for a false innocence is closer to a Wes Anderson fantasy than anything.Which is fine! It's still "a gas" to watch, "terrif" from beginning to end. And Julianne Moore is quite amazing, as complex and interesting as the character needed to be. And under the radar movie. Recommended.
tlelliott-mn
My only quarrel is Hollywood's inability to get the costume, music, and other details of the 50s-60s era accurate.When the main character goes to Goshen, Indiana, she takes country roads instead of the interstate-- which was long finished by 1963.The ladies are all dressed and wearing gloves, but women wouldn't wear gloves in 1963 for anything less formal than a church service or a country club party. The dresses/gloves outfits date from about 1958.The music played in the car on this 1963 trip is "How High the Moon," a hit for Les Paul and Mary Ford in 1951. By 1963, Elvis, the Beatles, and rock and roll were well-established.Also the kids were wearing what look like brand new saddle shoes, and brand new Converse All-stars. Doubtful for this family.Details, but these and others were off.
