The Magic of Ordinary Days
Encyclopedia
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.
), who became pregnant before marriage, is sent to rural southeastern Colorado
. Her father, Rev. Dunne (Daryl Shuttleworth
), decides to deal with the situation by arranging her marriage to a shy farmer through another preacher. The groom, Ray Singleton (Skeet Ulrich
), lives on a remote farm and is very different from Livvy. Ray focuses on what is close to him: his family, his land, and today. Livvy thinks on a much grander scale: the world, ancient civilizations, and faraway places.
Ray's farm utilizes the help of Japanese Americans from the nearby Japanese American internment
camp, Amache
. Livvy befriends two well-educated Japanese American women, Florence "Flory" and Rose Umahara (Tania Gunadi
and Gwendoline Yeo
). She finds comfort and familiarity in their friendship. Livvy is polite and civil to her new husband and his sister Martha (Mare Winningham
), but she harbors feelings for the father of the baby, a World War II
soldier, and feelings of guilt for the pregnancy. Ray, however, is caring, patient, and supportive of Livvy. Slowly, over time, the two come to understand and love each other and appreciate that though they are different, neither is better or worse than the other.
. 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:
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The second longest-running television program in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2011...
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
Keri Russell
Keri Lynn Russell is an American actress and dancer. After appearing in a number of made-for-television films and series during the mid-1990s, she came to fame for portraying the title role of Felicity Porter on the series Felicity, which ran from 1998 to 2002, and for which she won a Golden Globe...
, Skeet Ulrich
Skeet Ulrich
Bryan Ray Trout , best known as Skeet Ulrich, is an American actor best known for starring in the CBS drama Jericho as Jake Green and for portraying Billy Loomis in Scream...
, and Mare Winningham
Mare Winningham
Mare Winningham , born Mary Megan Winningham, is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She has been nominated once for an Academy Award, Golden Globe and Drama Desk, 7 times for Emmy Awards , and has also won an Independent Spirit Award and two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.She is...
.
The film first aired on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
on January 30, 2005, and received an encore broadcast on the same network exactly five years later.
Plot
In 1944 a young woman, Livvy Dunne (Keri RussellKeri Russell
Keri Lynn Russell is an American actress and dancer. After appearing in a number of made-for-television films and series during the mid-1990s, she came to fame for portraying the title role of Felicity Porter on the series Felicity, which ran from 1998 to 2002, and for which she won a Golden Globe...
), who became pregnant before marriage, is sent to rural southeastern Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. Her father, Rev. Dunne (Daryl Shuttleworth
Daryl Shuttleworth
Daryl Shuttleworth is a Canadian actor. He has had numerous small roles in a wide variety of North American television shows and films over the years, but is best known for his role as Detective Sean "Bub" Bailey in the gay-themed Donald Strachey mystery films.Shuttleworth is the former president...
), decides to deal with the situation by arranging her marriage to a shy farmer through another preacher. The groom, Ray Singleton (Skeet Ulrich
Skeet Ulrich
Bryan Ray Trout , best known as Skeet Ulrich, is an American actor best known for starring in the CBS drama Jericho as Jake Green and for portraying Billy Loomis in Scream...
), lives on a remote farm and is very different from Livvy. Ray focuses on what is close to him: his family, his land, and today. Livvy thinks on a much grander scale: the world, ancient civilizations, and faraway places.
Ray's farm utilizes the help of Japanese Americans from the nearby Japanese American internment
Japanese American internment
Japanese-American internment was the relocation and internment by the United States government in 1942 of approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese who lived along the Pacific coast of the United States to camps called "War Relocation Camps," in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on...
camp, Amache
Granada War Relocation Center
The Granada War Relocation Center was a Japanese American internment camp located in southeast Colorado about a mile west of the small farming community of Granada, south of US 50....
. Livvy befriends two well-educated Japanese American women, Florence "Flory" and Rose Umahara (Tania Gunadi
Tania Gunadi
Tania Gunadi is an Indonesian-born American actress. She is best known for her role as Emma Lau on the Disney XD series Aaron Stone and appearing the Disney Channel original films Pixel Perfect and Go Figure .-Biography:...
and Gwendoline Yeo
Gwendoline Yeo
-Early life:Born in Singapore, Yeo is the niece of George Yeo, Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs. She moved to California as a teenager, graduating from St. Ignatius College Preparatory in 1994...
). She finds comfort and familiarity in their friendship. Livvy is polite and civil to her new husband and his sister Martha (Mare Winningham
Mare Winningham
Mare Winningham , born Mary Megan Winningham, is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She has been nominated once for an Academy Award, Golden Globe and Drama Desk, 7 times for Emmy Awards , and has also won an Independent Spirit Award and two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.She is...
), but she harbors feelings for the father of the baby, a World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
soldier, and feelings of guilt for the pregnancy. Ray, however, is caring, patient, and supportive of Livvy. Slowly, over time, the two come to understand and love each other and appreciate that though they are different, neither is better or worse than the other.
Reception
The premiere broadcast on CBS in 2005 attracted 18.7 million viewers, making it the highest-rated television film since the 2001-2 season2001–02 United States network television schedule
This was the United States broadcast television schedule on all six commercial television networks for the fall season beginning in September 2001. All times are Eastern and Pacific.New fall series are highlighted in bold....
. 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
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
gave the film (3½ out of 4 stars), saying:
If only TV moviesTelevision movieA television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
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.