Based on the memoir, " How My Mother Raised 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less." (written by the main character's daughter), "Prize Winner" captures the period (1950's-60's) with a clever TV-twist. Julianna Moore, plays the saintly Evelyn Ryan written to near martyrdom in her unrelenting efforts to keep a roof over head, and milk on the table.

An ornery, bottle-sucking, husband suffices as the bad guy. While his small income often finds its way to liqueur before eggs and toast, Evelyn's gift of literary charm wins the family everything from pogo sticks to new cars. Here, a ten-minute shopping spree is the "action" highlight of the film. The build up to that event and then the execution are just as exciting as a car chase scene from any cop movie.

Sweet, endearing, but somewhat distant in that we seldom see deeper into Evelyn than her impersonal smile in the face of adversity. Don't get me wrong, this is an absolutely admirable trait. But, feels somewhat impersonal nonetheless. The story is compelling and hopefully will clue in slack partners on just how awful their destructive behaviors can be.

The film ends with strength spiced nicely with the sweet touch of appearances from the actual children of Evelyn Ryan.

Terry "Tuff" Ryan says that after going through all her mother's papers she had to rent a van to move them all from Defiance, Ohio.

"We used to say, 'Mom, you could have...been a writer on Madison Avenue,...had your own column in the Chicago Tribune,'" recalls Terry Ryan. "And she would say, 'And which one of you kids would I give up for that?'"