Prize Winner portrays 1950s jingle writer"The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio" (Dreamworks) -- based on a book of the same name -- is an extremely appealing true-life story about a 1950s' Midwestern housewife, Evelyn Ryan (Julianne Moore), with a knack for winning jingle-writing contests. Her earnings help support a large family (10 kids) and an alcoholic husband, Kelly (a touching Woody Harrelson).

Near the start of the film, Evelyn makes a huge amount of cash that allows the family, always on the financial brink, to take out a mortgage on a new house. Because it's a period where the wife was subservient to the husband, Kelly signs the papers at the bank -- an action that will have repercussions later on.

Evelyn also wins a number of household items, including a freezer chest. Kelly is pleased with their new affluence, but inwardly resents his wife's local celebrity and his own inadequacy, and one night after drinking he takes out his rage on the appliance. She later scores a 10-minute shopping spree at the supermarket, and her winnings again bring out mixed emotions from Kelly.

Evelyn suffers in silence. Because it's a man's world, all the male characters to whom Evelyn turns for help -- the police, the milkman and even her local priest -- are unhelpful and inclined to cut Kelly slack. The police advise Evelyn to let him sleep off the drunkenness, while the priest reminds her that Kelly is under a lot of stress at work. (Later, one of the children asks his mother why the priest's breath "smells like Daddy's," a brief but needlessly disparaging swipe.)

Evelyn's skill gives her a sense of accomplishment and self-worth, as much as a temporary respite from the pressures of her domestic situation.

Moore has memorably trod this territory recently in "Far From Heaven," a riff on the Douglas Sirk melodramas of the period. "The Prize Winner" takes a breezy tone, alcoholism notwithstanding, that puts Moore in a Donna Reed-sitcom environment. But again, she is wonderful.

Harrelson is extraordinary, ultimately one of the most sympathetic screen alcoholics since James Dunn's touching turn in "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn." Harrelson lets you see the hurt and the vulnerability. And, fortunately, the writers make clear he would never intentionally hurt his wife or kids, so viewers can rest easy that this isn't going to turn into a wife-beating story.

The children are shown to be unhappy with their father's drinking and wasteful ways, but on the whole you get the sense this is a close-knit clan.

Evelyn is almost too good to be true. You want her to lash out at Kelly, but she seems to know his inner worth, even if it's not immediately apparent to others.

During their one big confrontation, Kelly explains, "All I want is to make you happy," to which Evelyn, for once, forthrightly replies, "I don't need you to make me happy. Just leave me alone when I am."

Director-writer Jane Anderson's candy-colored film is a whimsical evocation of that decade, filled with kitschy visuals. What starts out rather superficial in tone turns increasingly profound, and delivers a strong emotional punch and a resounding affirmation of family. The film's postscript, a reunion of the real-life siblings, is a surefire heart-tugger that demonstrates that with all the problems of childhood they survived.

The other theme is the importance of forgiveness. Evelyn urges her daughter, Tuff (Ellary Porterfield), not to resent her dad.

Evelyn's unflaggingly positive outlook, though perhaps idealized, is convincing and inspiring.

The film contains a brief negative portrayal of a priest, an alcoholism theme, the brief bloody aftermath of a car crash, and mild domestic violence, including an episode involving blood. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II -- adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents are strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Capote (Sony Classics)

Gripping chronicle of writer Truman Capote (a superb Philip Seymour Hoffman) getting the inspiration to write his acclaimed "nonfiction novel," "In Cold Blood," after a Kansas farm family is brutally murdered, and his probing interviews with the townspeople and the killers, which walk a fine line between calculation and compassion. Director Bennett Miller's sobering film masterfully recreates the early 1960s as Capote travels back and forth from the superficial New York social scene to the bleak aura of death row at Leavenworth, with fine performances by Catherine Keener, Clifton Collins Jr., Chris Cooper and Amy Ryan. Brief violent images, an implied homosexual relationship, scattered profanity and rough language, crude expressions, a vulgar anecdote, sexual reference, and a hanging. Ratings: A-III (R)

Good Night, and Good Luck. (Warner Independent)

Stylish black-and-white re-creation of the 1950s television era as crusading broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow (an uncannily evocative David Strathairn) and his colleagues Fred Friendly (George Clooney), Joe Wershba (Robert Downey Jr.), and "Sig" Mickelson (Jeff Daniels) take on Sen. Joseph McCarthy in his crusade against communism, under the watchful eye of CBS President William Paley (Frank Langella). Clooney directed this well-deserved tribute to a television golden-age legend, streamlining events but basically dramatizing the facts as known, and skillfully interweaving the footage with actual TV programs and commercials of the time. A couple of instances of profanity, a suicide and much tobacco use. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II -- adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG -- parental guidance suggested.

The Gospel (Screen Gems)

Elevating if melodramatic redemption drama about a preacher's son (Boris Kodjoe) who returns home after 15 years -- putting his temptation-filled success as a chart-topping hip-hop artist on hold -- to mend fences with his estranged father (Clifton Powell), who is terminally ill, and his childhood friend (Idris Elba), who's been named his father's successor at the church, and to make peace with himself and his past. Despite an undernourished script padded with roof-raising gospel music numbers, director Rob Hardy's contemporary re-imagining of the prodigal son parable movingly explores themes of family, faith, forgiveness, flawed humanity and God's unconditional love. An implied sexual encounter, mature themes, brief fisticuffs, a bump-and-grind dance sequence and some mildly crude language, making it better suited for older adolescents. Ratings: A-III (PG)

In Her Shoes (20th Century Fox)

Emotionally wounded sisters -- one a dowdy, inhibited lawyer (Toni Collette), the other a flashy, promiscuous alcoholic (Cameron Diaz) -- come to terms with the scars of the past when they reconnect with the grandmother they never knew (Shirley MacLaine) who is now living in a Florida retirement home. If the Jewish milieu isn't entirely convincing, Curtis Hanson's unabashedly sentimental film ultimately imparts good messages about forgiveness and reconciliation, with a touching, morally sound, feel-good conclusion. Sexual banter and situations including one rough encounter in a restroom, an irreligious remark, permissive view of premarital sex, partial nudity, suicide theme, scattered profanity, and crude language and expressions. Ratings: A-III (PG-13)

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (DreamWorks)

Frolicsome clay-animated adventure about a cheese-loving inventor (voiced by Peter Sallis) and his faithful pooch, who are hired by a batty blueblood (voiced by Helena Bonham Carter) to catch a monstrous rabbit terrorizing neighborhood gardens before it jeopardizes the town's annual vegetable competition. Co-directed by Nick Park and Steve Box (based on characters created by Park), the disarmingly whimsical and visually delightful film is an amusing family treat, despite a few "naughty" jokes that will go over the heads of most children. Some double entendres and a brief, mildly irreligious sight gag. Ratings: A-I (G)

Harry Forbes is director of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.