Russell, Ulrich are quiet center of CBS' 'Ordinary Days'
From: The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, January 29, 2005
by: Laura Urbani
"The Magic of Ordinary Days" offers a touching look at a couple falling in love. The romance between Livy Dunne and Ray Singleton is not the usual fluffy relationship. These people are thrown together by circumstance during one of America's most difficult times.
Based on the novel by Ann Howard Creel, "The Magic of Ordinary Days" shows how World War II impacts even the quiet solitude of Wilson, Colorado. In 1944, no one is immune from the harshness of war, even if they never see a wounded soldier.
The brashness of war wounds Livy (Keri Russell, "Felicity"), to the point where her life changes. Her love for a soldier leaves her brokenhearted and pregnant. Her stern father refuses to allow his daughter to give birth to an illegitimate child so he sends her to a small town to marry a stranger.
"If father wanted to punish me he's done a great job," Livy tells her sister.
Livy's dreams were of foreign countries, archaeological digs and glamorous men. Small towns and farmers never entered her thoughts. Suddenly the worldly Livy finds herself married to a quiet man, living on a beet farm with the nearest neighbor miles away.
Despite her gratitude, Livy has trouble understanding why Ray (Skeet Ulrich, "Miracles") would take on another man's responsibility.
"I thought it might by God's will," he says.
Russell and Ulrich cautiously dance around each other, careful never to touch and rarely make eye contact. Their subdued performances enhance the uncomfortable beginnings of the relationship.
"Ordinary Days" slowly unfolds into a story of love and commitments. Livy still longs for some adventure. She writes her soldier often and befriends two Japanese-American girls from the local internment camp. Although she is never mean to Ray, she is impatient with his talk of beans and weather.
Ray is determined to win her heart. He quietly studies books on the lost city of Troy, one of her passions. He digs a swimming hole after hearing she likes to swim. He may be a man of few words, but the words are carefully chosen.
"You're so fine," Ray tells Livy. "I can't believe any man would do this to you."
The emptiness of 1940s Colorado still resonates with the war. The quiet farm, which seems so far from anywhere, embodies the injustice and tragedy of war. Ray lost a brother at Pearl Harbor. The Japanese-American internment camp supplies workers for the farm and German prisoners of war are held at a camp nearby. Livy's involvement with several prisoners helps her decide whether to stay on the farm or return to Denver.
"The Magic of Ordinary Days" is a quiet love story that serves as a reminder of the important things in life.