The Magic of Ordinary Days

The Magic of Ordinary Days
Genre	Period romance
Created by	Hallmark Hall of Fame
Directed by	Brent Shields
Produced by	Andrew Gottlieb
Written by	Ann Howard Creel (novel) Camille Thomasson (adaption)
Starring	Keri Russell Skeet Ulrich Mare Winningham
Country	United States
Language	English
Original channel	CBS
Release date	January 30, 2005
Running time	120 minutes (inc. commercials)

The Magic of Ordinary Days is a Hallmark Hall of Fame production based on a novel of the same name by Ann Howard Creel and adapted as a teleplay by Camille Thomasson.^[1] It was directed by Brent Shields, produced by Andrew Gottlieb and stars Keri Russell, Skeet Ulrich, and Mare Winningham.^[1]

The film first aired on CBS on January 30, 2005,^[2] and received an encore broadcast on the same network exactly five years later.^[3]

Plot

Olivia Dunne (Keri Russell) is a young woman of Denver who has become pregnant by a naval flight instructor on furlough during the war. Embarrassed by his daughter's out of wedlock pregnancy, her father decides to resolve the dilemma by arranging her to marry. Livvy is sent off to a rural town in southeastern Colorado, there to be married to a young farmer in need of a wife. The groom is Ray Singleton (Skeet Ulrich), who farms a remote section of land on a family farm. Unbeknownst to Livvy, Ray has suffered the loss of his father and mother, and the further loss of his younger brother when he was killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Though a handsome young man, the isolation of the high plains has not allowed Ray the opportunity to find a wife. A family man at heart, Ray's sister Martha (Mare Winningham), her husband and their three children are the only family Ray has left. Hearing of Livvy's delimma from his pastor, Ray is moved by the story and agrees to marry her.

Ray and Livvy are an unlikely couple. They have very different backgrounds. Livvy has the benefit of a good education and until recently had been in graduate school studying archeology. Though outwardly sophisticated, she has felt bereft and lonely since the death of her mother. She is the possesser of a broad education, but knows nothing of cooking or farming and is not particularly devoted to her religious beliefs. Ray is a man of few words. A hard worker, he is honest, patient and kind. Family life and faith in God have been the central features of Ray's life. His daily activity is focused on working his family's farm.^[4] Livvy and Ray are polite and civil towards each other, each trying hard to be courteous, but the fact that they feel awkward in each other's company is quite apparent.

With most of the young men gone off to fight the war, Ray's farm is lacking in farm hands. As the government wants to maintain production, laborers are supplied to farms to help with the work. On Ray's farm, these happen to be Japanese Americans interned at nearby Camp Amache. Life in the high country leaves Livvy feeling isolated and alone. Livvy befriends two sisters from the camp, Florence and Rose Umahara (Tania Gunadi and Gwendoline Yeo). Both are well-educated, and Livvy finds familiarity and comfort in their friendship.

Though she agreed to marry to please her father, she never has intended to remain in this stark life. Throughout she has been secretly writing to Lieutenant Edward Brown, the flight instructor who is the father of her child. A visit by her sister brings sharp contrast to the life Livvy came from and the life she is living now, but it also is apparent how much Livvy has changed her view of her surroundings. Her sister is now without her husband who has been called up to serve, and she cannot bear to be alone. She asks that Livvy leave Ray and come stay with her to have the baby, but she has no news of Lt. Brown who has yet to answer any of Livvy's letters.

Martha and her family give Livvy new insight into the lives of people in rural America. Throughout Ray proves to be a caring husband, both patient and supportive. He quielty does things to make her more comfortable in her surroundings, and it is clear that he is much brighter than what Livvy had first suspected. Over time Livvy comes to value the life people like Martha and Ray lead. The love and forbearance shown to her stand in marked contrast with what she had known at home since the passing of her mother. With the baby coming she must choose to either leave Ray or stay in this new life she is living.^[4]

Reception

The premiere broadcast on CBS in 2005 attracted 18.7 million viewers, making it the highest-rated television film since the 2001-2 season.^[2] According to the author of the original novel, "as of early 2009, the screenplay for a sequel has been written and approved. Hallmark Hall of Fame is waiting for principal actors to become available to begin production and filming."^[2]

In 2005, Robert Bianco of USA Today gave the film (3½ out of 4 stars), saying:^[5]

If only TV movies this good were ordinary events....Days does sometimes stress a link between "country" and "uncomplicated" that probably never existed. But underneath the contrasts between Ray's simple ways and Livvy's more cultured upbringing is a binding, universal message about the need to accept the consequences of our acts. An ordinary lesson, perhaps, but it takes an extraordinary movie to make us listen.

References

External links

• The Magic of Ordinary Days at the Internet Movie Database