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The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (2005)
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Movie Review by Zara 
January 28th, 2007
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Inspirational Joy
Man, I could have never survived in the 50's. There is no way that I would have been able to deal with the fact that I'd need to get married, raise a family, run the risk of having 10 or more kids and have to stay with a husband who was an erratic alcoholic.
What I like about this movie most is the performance by Moore. At first she comes off as being a little too Stepford, but as the movie wears on you start to see a woman who is refusing to let her situations get the better of her. She tries her hardest to help support her very large family and is the cornerstone of their sanity. To help support them she enters in tons of contests, back in a time when you actually had to have some talent to win a contest and not just get picked at random.
She is head strong, consistent and inspiring to her children, all of which go off to college and/or the military and live very successful lives.
One might be tempted to hate Harrelson's character of the alcoholic father who puts his family through hell for every minute that the mother brings them up, but I urge you to look closer. Here is a man who loves without question the woman he married. He wants to do the best possible by her but is frustrated with his own situation as well. Where she is able to deal with it in the most positive light, he is not able to. That does not make him loathsome. That makes him human. Some people are just not built to be as positive as others. It is the balance of having both in this world that keeps us all going. It's what kept their marriage together. Harrelson actually gives one of the best performances that I think I've ever seen him give in conveying this agony and heartbreak of this fallen man.
If you ever think that your life couldn't get any worse, I urge you to watch this movie. It will inspire you to get off your ass and take a chance. Trust me, you don't have it all that bad and you most certainly couldn't deal with it this well if you had it worse.
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