Sally and Gillian Owens, born into a magical family, have mostly avoided witchcraft themselves. But when Gillian's vicious boyfriend, Jimmy Angelov, dies unexpectedly, the Owens sisters give themselves a crash course in hard magic. With policeman Gary Hallet growing suspicious, the girls struggle to resurrect Angelov -- and unwittingly inject his corpse with an evil spirit that threatens to end their family line.
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The wry, comic romantic tale follows the Owens sisters, Sally and Gillian, as they struggle to use their hereditary gift for practical magic to overcome the obstacles in discovering true love.I have to give this film a 6 rather than a 7 or 8, because it seems like it was trying to go in different directions, which made it never strong enough as any one genre. It could be fantasy, but it's not. It could be PG-13 horror, but it's not. It could be romantic comedy, but it's not. There should have been something more here than what we got.What is interesting is the inclusion of music from Stevie Nicks, the "White Witch". This makes me think the film had to be a strong influence on the writers of "American Horror Story". The hereditary witches, the mixing of potions, bringing the dead back... and Stevie Nicks. This can't just be written off as generic witch stuff.
Sally (Sandra Bullock) and Gillian Owens (Nicole Kidman) have been told by their aunts (Stockard Channing, Dianne Wiest) early on about the family curse. Their ancestor Maria Owens was hung as a witch, but she survives. She was exiled to what is now their home Maria's Island in Massachusetts with her unborn child. She casts a spell to never fall in love. The curse has endured killing all the men that Owens women love. Gillian is the wild child and she wanders away from home. Sally stayed home. Against all odds, she falls in love with her husband and has two girls. Everything seems fine until the curse strike her husband dead. Then drunken mess Gillian calls one night for help. Gillian's boyfriend Jimmy (Goran Visnjic) takes both sisters hostage. Sally tries to dose Jimmy with belladonna but an overdose kills him. So they bury his body in the yard. Police detective Gary Hallet (Aidan Quinn) comes investigating the missing Jimmy. Only Jimmy's spirit is now haunting the sisters.This movie is a witches' brew of mismatch genres. It wants so desperately to be a rom-com. But there are some really dark fantasy elements that would probably be better off as a thriller. And then there are real slices of horror. It's a wildly inconsistent mess. For so much of it, director Griffin Dunne is using such a delicate light touch to the tone that all the murder and mayhem seems weirdly fake. Bullock and Kidman are great actors who has good chemistry together as sisters. However, the chemistry between Bullock and Quinn is questionable. The main reason being that the love may be spell induced. I just don't know what to do with this mess.
SO this was on ITV 2 last night and I was switching back and forth as I wanted to watch Little Fockers too so I decided to check out Practical Magic because I didn't see this movie since I was a kid.The movie is about two witches played by my all time favourite actress Sandra Bullock and Moulin Rouge actress Nicole Kidman who's ancestor cast a spell so that if they ever fall in love with a man he will die as this black beetle shows up. SO Bullock marries and has two kids and has a loving husband,but when Bullock(Sally) saw the black beetle she freaks out and gets a premonition that her husband has died as he got ran over by a lorry. Meanwhile her sister Gillian(Kidman)is in love with a bad boy who turns out to be a alcoholic and she poisons him with sleeping pills crushed. He dies too only to control Gillian's body. Will Sally save her sister against the evil spirit of her sister's evil boyfriend??Overall if you love witches and if you are a fan of Bullock or Kidman than check it out. Not too bad but not the best film I have ever seen.Keep an eye out for Stockard Channing who plays a witch in this movie and irish actor Aidan Quinn as Bullocks new love interest. Channing btw was in Grease as the pink lady chick from the pink lady squad.
Practical Magic is very much a woman's movie which is very different from a chick flick that essentially tries to capture the attention of female viewers by playing on their desires. This picture is about women for women and mostly made by women.Everything has a soft feminine touch to it, even the violence and the action. In this piece, witchcraft simply represent women power. The scenario is built around what it means to be a strong woman, how it can set you apart, and the danger associated with this strength.It has sweet moments, some tearful moments, some funny moments, and a certain dose of intrigue to pique our interest. Now, you can't jump into this movie and expect a big bang, like what you usually get out of most Hollywood movies. No, you'll get entertained, but delicately.It has a few flaws, but small ones, and the acting is not stellar, but very good, and sometimes just average. So, it's not perfect, but if you want something more gentle, it's excellent.You don't want fireworks, and still want to spend a good evening, this is for you.
