The Magic of Ordinary Days
Genre	Period romance
Created by	Hallmark Hall of Fame
Based on	The Magic of Ordinary Days by Ann Howard Creel
Written by	Ann Howard Creel (novel) Camille Thomasson (adaption)
Directed by	Brent Shields
Starring	Keri Russell Skeet Ulrich Mare Winningham
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Producer	Andrew Gottlieb
Running time	120 minutes (inc. commercials)
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	January 30, 2005 (2005-01-30)

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, and received an encore broadcast on the same network exactly five years later.^[2]

Plot

Set during World War II, Olivia "Livy" Dunne is a young Denver minister's daughter who has become pregnant by a United States Navy flight instructor on furlough. Embarrassed by his daughter's out of wedlock pregnancy, her father quietly arranges for her to marry.

Livy is sent to a rural southeastern Colorado town to marry Ray Singleton, who operates his family farm. Hearing of Livy's dilemma from his pastor, Ray is moved and agrees to marry without even having met her. Unbeknownst to Livy, he has lost both of his parents, and also his younger brother, during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Though young, handsome and a family man at heart, Ray has little opportunity to find a wife in this remote region. His sister Martha, her husband and their three children are the only family he has left.

Ray and Livy are very different. Livy has a good education and until recently was studying archeology in graduate school. She knows nothing of cooking or farming and is not particularly religious. Livy has felt bereft and lonely since her mom's death. Ray is a man of few words. A hard worker, he is kind, honest and patient. 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.^[3] Livy and Ray strive hard to be polite and courteous to each other, but are nevertheless awkward in each other's company.

Though agreeing to marry for her father, Livy never intended to remain. She secretly writes to United States Navy Flight Instructor Lieutenant Edward Brown, her baby's father. A visit by her sister brings sharp contrast between the life Livy came from and the life she is living now, but it is also apparent how much Livy has changed her view of her surroundings. Her sister has no news of Lt. Brown, who has yet to answer Livy's letters.

Now, without her husband who has been called up to serve, her sister is lonely. She asks Livy to leave Ray to come stay with her, suggesting they make up stories of him drinking and being violent to justify it. Livy cannot do this, as he is a decent man.

As most young men are at war, Ray's farm is lacking in farm hands. The government supplies laborers to the farms, needing to maintain production of food. Ray's farm is supplemented by Japanese Americans internees at nearby Camp Amache. Livy, feeling isolated and alone, befriends two sisters from the camp, Florence and Rose Umahara. Both are well-educated, and Livy finds familiarity and comfort in their friendship.

Ray's sister Martha and her family give Livy insight into rural America. Throughout Ray proves to be a caring husband, both patient and supportive. He quietly does things to make her more comfortable, and is much brighter than Livy had first suspected.

Livy 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 since her mother's passing. With the baby coming, she finally hears back from the lieutenant, who insists he couldn't be the father. Livy realises Ray and she will have a good life and chooses to stay.

Reception

The premiere broadcast on CBS in 2005 attracted 18.7 million viewers, making it the highest-rated television film since the 2001-02 season. 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."

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

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 IMDb