Yar, you be here: Practical Magic > Customer Reviews

Practical Magic Customer Reviews (1 - 3 of 41 Reviews)

The Magic isn't There
This is a fantasy film about a family of witches in modern times. The Owens girls are hereditary witches, any man who loves one is doomed to an early death. There is a scene where a woman asks for a love potion, this requires the sacrifice of a dove. Two little girls watch. Years later they're grown up. One leaves to live with her boyfriend. But the curse returns and a boyfriend is run over by a truck (never stand in the middle of a road). We see scenes where the neighbor kids yell "witch", as if to symbolize something.

Sally goes when Jillian calls her; she has a problem with her boyfriend. But Sally uses a "magic potion" to eliminate the problem. Now Jillian wants to undo what was done. [The film began to lose me now, it wasn't funny.] The spell goes awry, they bury their mistake. Then there is a scene where the ladies are all giggles. Later an investigator comes around looking for Jimmy. [The story drags again.] More scenes follow; they are not funny or scary or even entertaining. But a scene in the attic will wake you even if you're snoozing! They call some friends over to cast a spell to drive a demon out of Jillian. It seems to work, even if they don't use the standard issue witches broom. There is a sort of happy ending.

Sandra and Nicole are good actresses, but they can't cast a spell to improve the script of one of the worst movies I've ever seen. "Bell, Book, and Candle" is a funnier film, "Blair Witch" is a scarier film. This falls between the cracks.


No-So-Practical Magic
Here we have a movie with a pretty good cast and an interesting story that ends up being sometimes funny, mildly entertaining, and always amusing. I liked the movie enough to give it a 'B' but it's really not that great of a film.
The dialogue is cliched, the plot isn't anything we haven't seen before, and it just draws itself out really. The movie is about two sisters Sally and Gillian Owens, whose mother has died of 'a broken heart.' Sally and Gillian were born into a family of witches and if an Owens woman falls in love with a man, he will die. Sally and Gillian are sent to live with their slightly eccentric aunts Frances and Jet (Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest), where they make vows to each other. They will stay together forever, never fall in love, and die on the same day...A few years later, Sally (Sandra Bullock) is married with two daughters (one is played by a very young Evan Rachel Wood, showing premature talent) and has finally achieved a normal life. This isn't a movie where the witches are witches and only we (the audience) knows it. The townspeople in this film know it and they voice their disapproval. Gillian has become a slut of sorts. After Sally's husband dies because of the curse, she takes her daughters and reluctantly moves back in with Frances and Jet;
When Gillian asks for Sally's help, Sally rushes to her rescue. Gillian has gotten involved with the wrong guy. This wrong guy is the generally mean spirited Jimmy Angelov (Goran Visnjic). Then, in a surprising turn of events, Sally accidentally kills him. Realizing they could go to prison, Gillian and Sally try to resurrect him and fail...So then they bury him in the backyard. I'm just going to stop there. It doesn't sound like your typical romantic-comedy does it? Well the romantic aspect appears in the form of a detective named Gary Hallet (Aidan Quinn, formerly of the quickly defunct TV show The Book of Daniel), who happens to be looking for Jimmy. The romance is pretty organic, but not wholly unbelievable. As I said, this movie is amusing and kind of funny. Women will love it, because the film none-to-subtly makes it's femine overtones prominent...But it's an OK movie that you can watch once and enjoy.

GRADE: B


One of my favs!
I can not even tell you how many times i have watched this movie. This is probably the most natural performance I have ever seen from Kidman. She really seemed to fit the part. This movie can do no wrong with Sandra Bullock, a kickbutt soundtrack, and a well written story. Definitely one you will watch over and over!

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Next Page