La magie de l'amour

This is one of the best, most heartwarming and well acted movies I have seen in a long, long time. I immediately fell in love with all of the characters, especially Ray, portrayed beautifully by Skeet Ulrich. His inflections and mannerisms are superb. Keri Russell has outdone herself as Livy, with her timeless manners and elegant sophistication in handling an awkward situation during an unforgiving era. This is a poignant drama that evokes emotions long since lost in ordinary, mundane television. Congratulations to Hallmark and CBS for providing such outstanding broadcasting, and hats off to Mr. Ulrich...this role is Emmy-Worthy!

During World War II, Livy was studying to be an archaeologist when she got pregnant, and she ended up in an arranged marriage to Ray, a kind but boring farmer who lived miles from most of the 'modern conveniences'. Livy tried hard to adjust to her new life but sometimes wondered if she had made a mistake. It helped that Ray's sister Martha treated her so warmly, and there were plenty of activities in the nearby towns, and caring people.

Ray needed help on his farm, and like many area farmers, he used Japanese from internment camps. Livy met two very nice and quite articulate Japanese girls, Rose and her sister Florie, who turned out to have been born in this country and quite educated. Ray cared little about the Japanese, thinking of them as needed to do farm work--and besides, his brother died at Pearl Harbor. We are reminded more than once that a war is going on--there are German POWs in the area, and the young Japanese women did explain what happened to their family.

Keri Russell did a good job as Livy, and Skeet Ulrich's Ray showed amazing patience with his wife. Mare Winningham was also good as Martha, and the two Japanese actresses were quite charming, though Florie smiled a little too much. Rose had almost no accent and Gwendoline Yeo made her quite dignified.

This was a pleasant family film, with almost nothing to keep children from watching. Even the references to premarital sex were handled quite tastefully.

In this Hallmark made-for-television movie, two young performers (Keri Russell and Skeet Ulrich) offer thoughtful character portrayals in the heartland of America during World War II. After becoming pregnant by a soldier (who never appears in the film), a young woman is forced to marry virtually by proxy; she is sent to the Midwest by her stern father and accepts a total stranger, Ray, as her husband. The film focuses on the bonding of a decent man of the earth and the more worldly, educated Livy. The film was earnest in its portrayal of the two main characters. There is also some beautiful cinematography of the American heartland. Although I did not find the overall effect of the film entirely plausible (including Livy's relationship with two Japanese women internment victims working the fields), I nonetheless applaud the Hallmark organization for a tasteful effort. Even the Hallmark commercials were refreshing when compared with the annoying generic commercials on television today.

I thought this movie was exactly what a hallmark movie should be. Happy, heartwarming, and has a happy ending. I love Skeet and I thought that he played Ray very well as a soft spoken farmer, and Keri was wonderful as the out of place women who finally finds happiness. The time-line makes the idea of an arranged marriage to cover a pregnancy more realistic because of the idea of children being born out of wedlock. I think that using the times, the events of that era, and the ideals that each different family has made this movie into something really sweet. I think that this movie is perfect for a family to watch, and it really is a heartwarming movie.

I was at home one day a few weeks ago, off sick from work, and caught this movie during the day on one of our movie channels. I was expecting it to be sugary sweet - enough to make your teeth hurt - but the sweetness was restrained. I really enjoyed this movie! The plot was well-written, the character were wholly believable and it was not totally predictable. It made me want to be swept off by a big-hearted country gentleman. Haven't seen Skeet in a while, and was pleasantly surprised by his work in this movie. I've always liked Keri Russell (I think it may be curly-hair envy). Definitely a chick-flick, but one that I would like to own and watch more than once. Well done!