The Magic of Ordinary Days

The Magic of Ordinary Days
Genre	Period romance
Created by	Hallmark Hall of Fame
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(s)	English
Production
Producer(s)	Andrew Gottlieb
Running time	120 minutes (inc. commercials)
Release
Original network	CBS
Original release	January 30, 2005

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. It was directed by Brent Shields, produced by Andrew Gottlieb and stars Keri Russell, Skeet Ulrich, and Mare Winningham.

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

Livvy (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 deal with the issue by quietly arranging for 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. Hearing of Livvy's dilemma from his pastor, Ray is moved by the story and agrees to marry without even having met her. Unbeknownst to Livvy, Ray has suffered the loss of both his father and mother, and the further loss of his younger brother when he was killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Though young, handsome and a family man at heart, Ray has lacked the opportunity to find a wife in this remote region. His sister Martha (Mare Winningham), her husband and their three children are the only family he has left.

Ray and Livvy are an unlikely couple. Livvy has the benefit of a good education and until recently had been in graduate school studying archeology. The possesser of a broad formal education, she knows nothing of cooking or farming and is not particularly devoted to her religious beliefs. Though outwardly sophisticated, she has felt bereft and lonely since the death of her mother. 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. Livvy and Ray strive hard to be polite and courteous to one another, but are nevertheless awkward in each other's company.

Though she agreed to marry to please her father, Livvy never intended to remain in this stark life. She secretly writes to Lieutenant Edward Brown, the flight instructor who is the father of her child. A visit by her sister brings sharp contrast between the life Livvy came from and the life she is living now, but it is also apparent how much Livvy has changed her view of her surroundings. Her sister has no news of Lt. Brown, who has yet to answer Livvy's letters. Now without her husband who has been called up to serve, her sister finds herself lonely. She asks Livvy to leave Ray to come stay with her, suggesting they make up stories of Ray drinking and being violent to cover her leaving him. Livvy cannot bring herself to do this.

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