Practical Magic

Gimly

2020-06-06

40%

Genuinely one of the most bizarre films I have ever seen in my entire life. I am at such a complete and total loss on _Practical Magic_. I might have genuinely thought I'd fallen asleep and dreamt half a different movie if it wasn't for the fact that I watched it with my roommate and she had the exact same nonsensical experience as I. _Final rating:★★ - Had some things that appeal to me, but a poor finished product._

CinemaSerf

2026-08-12

60%

Follwing a fairly predictable family tragedy, siblings "Sally" (Sandra Bullock) and "Gillian" (Nicole Kidman) find themselves lodging with their two eccentric aunts. These two, seemingly ageless, ladies are widely believed to be witches by their local community but neither "Frances" (Stockard Channing) nor "Jet" (Dianne Wiest) really care very much. As the girls grow up, they find out some home truths and become aware of a family curse that suggests it will never bode well for any man who falls in love with a daughter of the family. Determined to make the most of this scenario, "Gillian" decides to adopt more of the Lucrezia Borgia approach to relationships whilst her sister falls in love with a local merchant. When he duly gets his comeuppance, it seems like perhaps "Gillian" was right - until, well she ends up involved with the enigmatic thug "Jimmy" (Goran Visnjic) and soon they are having to have a go at some magic they are completely ill-equipped or prepared for. Meantime, the dashing detective "Hallet" (Aiden Quinn) arrives in town trying to find out what actually did happen to the aforementioned "Jimmy" and with all fingers pointing fairly and squarely at the gals, they are going to have to think on their feet if they are to stay out of jail and to contain the spirit of a recently deceased man who is certainly enjoying getting up to no good. Can they do that without the help of the aunties? I'm betting not... It does have it's moments, this film, mostly towards the end but I felt it took far too long establishing the characters and setting up the conclusion and nowhere near enough time playing witchery games. Wiest and Channing (looking every inch like Liz Taylor, I thought) just don't feature often enough and though Kidman and Bullock do work well together latterly, they don't spend enough screen time together when the plot is in full throttle. It's all an amiable enough watch with a little mischief and an hint of spookiness, but it can't quite decide if it's a fantasy film or a romance and I felt it erred a little too much on the side of the latter.