MovieChat Forums > The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (2007) Discussion > [6.01.06] DreamWorks Nightmare

[6.01.06] DreamWorks Nightmare

posted 19 years ago by stradina84
14 replies | jump to latest

(from http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/0601/letters.php)

I'm writing for my partner, Terry (Tuff) Ryan, who wrote the book The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less. After she got back from the final wrap of the movie in Toronto in November 2004, Tuff was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer that had metastasized to the brain. Treatments have worked very well, but writing e-mails is still not easy, so she asked me to thank Tim Appelo for mentioning the crazy dichotomy between War of the Worlds and Prize Winner (the movie) at DreamWorks ["What Were They Thinking?" Dec. 28, 2005].
Appelo's comment that Prize Winner represented the very independent-thinking force that a giant corporate creature could not stomp on and smother was delicious.
DreamWorks switched marketing approaches (multiplex vs. art theater), stopped advertising, and dumped the distribution of Prize Winner before it reached 100 screens. Terry's nine brothers and sister like to think positively about things (following their mom's lead), so they know better than to lament the giant promotion for War of the Worlds while Prize Winner languishes. For all of us connected with the book, everything about the movie has just been a big bonus that we knew from the beginning could be dropped or left unsupported. So working with Jane Anderson (the screenwriter-director) and Julianne Moore, who were fabulous to the Ryan family, felt like so much gravy that nothing could wreck the outcome—or so we thought. Maybe it was the sale of DreamWorks to Viacom that did it, but the last days proved to be pretty brutal.
Thanks again for Appelo's comments, and here's to more beautifully stated critical appraisal.

Pat Holt, on behalf of Terry Ryan and family
San Francisco, CA

Matteo
-----------------------------
Fran Drescher, Julianne Moore

[–] brittbevis 19 years ago

The failure of this movie to make it into 2005's top movies, is further proof (if it were needed) of the ignorance and short-sightedness of movie distibutors and promoters.
It must be heart-breaking for the Ryan 'children' - who lived and breathed every moment of Evelyn's amazing true-life story - to see the film flop, before it was given a fair chance .
Shame on the powers-that-be, for thinking they know better than us - the movie-going public. Here in the UK, we feel we've been forgotten, and deprived of the opportunity to enjoy what could have been a huge movie hit.
Many of us Brits love Americana and 1950s/1960s nostalgia. And we still have a very active contesting scene (as does Australia and New Zealand!)If only we had been given the chance to 'vote with our bums'(as we Brits say...) many cinema seats would definitely have been filled!
Let's hope we get the DVD over here, it would be something!

[–] martin-560 19 years ago

Agree with you brittbevis. What a terrible indictment of The US movie industry is the shameless dumping of this excellent movie. I do love America, but sadly the movies, with the exception of some excellent independents, are now mostly mind-numbingly stupid.

[–] brittbevis 19 years ago

I don't think we're much better over here, Martin - unless we are talking British children's films - which are invariably excellent. The classic Brit favourite: Pride and Prejudice, was pretty to look at, but wasn't a patch on the BBC TV production.
I feel the reason the film industry is suffering, both here and in America, is because quantity is winning over quality. The movie industry, as with music, is becoming a bit of a sausage factory, with mostly forgettable material being churned out ad nauseam.
As regards The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio, the media have missed a gem. The story is not a light weight bit of nonsense, but the true story of one woman's crusade against povery and ignorance. It deserved to do so much better. But life is never fair.... Evelyn Ryan knew it, and so do we! How can a film be honestly appraised, when so few people actually got to see it?

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] brittbevis 19 years ago

I will definitely add that one to my list of 'must-sees' Martin. Thanks.
Did you say you've read the Prize Winner book? If not, get it quick - you've missed a brilliant read. Like many others here, I was totally hooked on the story!

http://www.britabevis.co.uk

[–] AntSpeaks 19 years ago

I saw "Prize Winner" recently, and it really left an impression on me. Seeing a personality like hers really makes me want to try a little harder to be strong and optimistic in the face of adversity.

Raising 10 successful kids (11, if you count her husband!) on nothing but your attitude and your wits is something quite profound, actually.

People are starting to figure out that the big blockbusters aren't nearly as moving as the smaller, less promoted films. I've noticed lately that it's very, very hard to find an available copy of independent/less promoted/etc films in the video store, because all of the copies are always checked out! People feel like they've won a prize themselves when they are able to get their hands on a copy of a movie like "The Prizewinner...," "Junebug," etc.

[–] bliss66 19 years ago

I don't know if you've had a chance to see it yet but Prize Winner looks unlikely to get a UK release. It may not even be dumped into the UK as a straight to DVD release. Hard to understand.

Anyway, for yourself and anyone else who is interested, you can get the R1 DVD from DVD Concept. Most DVD players in the UK are now multi-region anyway so you shouldn't have a problem playing it (I always check before I purchase a new player to make sure it's multi-region).

I picked up a copy while in the States recently and the film is well worth seeing. I hate to say it but I do think there was something political involved in this film's poor reception. A lot of the reviews at Rotten Tomatoes hint at a disbelief that a woman could be so strong or that a woman's role in 1950's America was really that difficult. Several critics hinted that the film was emasculating. I almost couldn't believe it myself. Someone else mentioned that the film wasn't broad enough to include the dark days of the Eisenhower era--as if the presence of a raging alcoholic and the inability to feed 10 children wasn't harrowing enough. Another review said that Harrelson and Moore didn't have any chemistry on screen which seemed an odd comment to make (esp. since I thought they worked well together).

I'm sure whoever green lit the film at Dreamworks was probably well out of it by the time it was released. Why they didn't at least give it a little push to secure Julianne Moore an Oscar nomination (in an admittedly weak year for actresses) is just bizarre--that alone would've boosted DVD rentals and sales.

Anyway, here's the link to DVD Concept:

http://www.dvdconcept.com/?page=shop/flypage&product_id=72765&category_id=&;

[–] RenaissanceLNR 19 years ago

Even though it did, it's hard for me to think this movie flopped since I'd never even heard of it to begin with (no commercials, no print ads -- where in the world was this advertised???). After watching it last night, I wondered how a movie with Julianne Moore, Woody Harrelson and Laura Dern wasn't promoted? I heard about this movie by chance by catching (I think) a post-Oscar Ebert & Roeper, when Ebert was comparing this movie to one of the Oscar movies and stating he thought it was a better movie but never got a chance.

A shame that DreamWorks felt the need to put all their promotion behind War of the Worlds (really, you've got Spielberg, you've got Cruise -- one of them alone means everyone's going to hear about their project). I must say that while I've never felt compelled to see War of the Worlds, I immediately added Prize Winner to my Netflix list after I heard about it.

[–] mainecoon1995 19 years ago

I agree with the previous poster. I don't remember the movie playing in this area (and we are next door almost to Defiance!), I don't remember advertising. I only heard about the movie because I read something about it in a People magazine at work.

This movie was fantastic. The acting, the scenery, the writing...everything was top-notch. And who's heart didn't break at the end to see all the real Ryan children. I recently lost my mom, and it occured to me that anyone who is close, or was close to their mothers, couldn't help but be touched in a special way. What a crime that Prizewinner was not touted by the parent company. Police Academy movies got far more support than this movie.

All I can say is that this film was something I will always remember...and I will be sure and mention this anytime great movies are talked about.

[–] genetikci 19 years ago

The film might have been unsuccessful in the conventional sense, but we should remember that Capra's "It's A Wonderful Life", considered one of the true classics now, experienced the same when it was released. I believe that truely great movies always find a way to reach the people and The Prize Winner Of Defiance, Ohio is one of them. It will be remembered long after some of this years "great" movies are forgotten and it will always have its special place in movielovers' hearts.

[–] melinda2001 10 years ago

It's true, and now in the digital age, it will never die. Who knows, perhaps people will still be enjoying it 100 years from now.

[–] crawl-2 18 years ago

Mine is not a new story, but I was totally unaware of this movie prior to the release in the video store.

Having lived through the time frame involved, it accurately captured life in the 50's and 60's in rural America. Our family owned the same model of car Tuff and her mother drove to Indiana.

It's been a long time since I enjoyed a movie from start to finish as much as this. It really is a story of long term joy, with times of severe challenges.

For the 'slicks' in Hollywood and New York, this is pure American corn. They can't conceive that this is closer to the 'real' America than what they try to market to us. Shame on them.

It's a miracle that somehow this work was made available through the money-grinder of Hollywood marketing.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] bitemarked 18 years ago

I only watched this because it came on immediately after another movie I was watching on Movie Central. Why are all the crappy mainstream movies marketed until you want to kill yourself if you hear one more trailer, but good, interesting, TRUE life stories are pushed so far to the background? Bah.