⭐️⭐️✨ 2.5

With Practical Magic 2 on the horizon, my local cinema screened the original 1998 film this weekend. Starring Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock, the film feels more like a Bullock vehicle in my opinion, supported brilliantly by Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest as the eccentric aunts to Sandra Bullock’s Sally and Kidman’s Gillian Owen.

As a nostalgic 1990s Hollywood feature, it sits somewhere between fantasy and romantic comedy. The pacing at the start is a little slow while laying the groundwork. While enjoyable, the fantasy elements take you into slightly nonsensical territory by the end, ultimately requiring you to just accept a load of nonsense to allow the story to wrap up.

Channing and Wiest are underused, and I would have welcomed more focus on their characters. Perhaps they will feature more prominently in the upcoming follow-up. This was my first time viewing the film, and my wife could only vaguely remember it, so we were both a bit surprised that it is gaining a sequel after all these years.

The film’s effects use a minimal amount of CGI, relying mostly on traditional filmmaking and practical camera techniques. The audience seemed to enjoy it overall, and it clearly holds a fond place in many people’s memories, though my wife and I land squarely in the “it’s just okay” camp.

There is not much more to say on this one. It is fine, but nothing to get overly excited about, probably more suited for home viewing than the big screen, which is perhaps why it holds a cult status rather than mainstream blockbuster appeal. Hopefully, the follow-up will be an improvement and correct some of the issues with storytelling and lack of screen time for Channing and Wiest.

Based on Alice Hoffman’s 1995 novel, Practical Magic follows Sally and Gillian Owens, two sisters born into a generational lineage of witches who are burdened by an ancestral curse dooming any man they fall in love with to an untimely death. Raised by their eccentric aunts after the tragic loss of their parents, the sisters initially try to live normal lives—with Sally attempting to avoid magic entirely and Gillian embracing a free-spirited lifestyle. However, their lives are upended when Gillian falls victim to an abusive boyfriend, leading the sisters to accidentally kill him in self-defense and inadvertently resurrect his malevolent spirit, forcing them to rely on the unbreakable bond of sisterhood, a supportive community of women, and their own inherent magic to survive.

Online synopsis 

Film Rating

Music/Sound

3 out of 5

Story/plot

2 out of 5

Acting/Performances

3.5 out of 5

Overall

2.5 out of 5

Certification: 12A
Running time: 104 minutes
Screening type: 2D