Practical Magic (1998)

Originally Reviewed
Sunday October 29, 2006

Practical Magic is a film that attempts to mix Halloween with romance, a combination I personally don't think mixes all too well, but then again what do I know! I'm a big fan a Sandra Bullock yet this was my first viewing of this film so I was somewhat intrigued to view it especially after the high praise from many Rotten Tomato reviewers and my own personal love for good romantic comedies. Sadly I will have to take the road less traveled and partially disagree with some of you a decision I will soon explain.

Practical Magic is a film about a lineage of witches, the Owens, for hundreds of years the family has passed down the "trade" of witchcraft, but with that heritage also came with it a price. Long ago an Owens was to be hanged for the practicing of witchcraft, and also the little fact that she slept with every man in town, but when she escaped her fate she was banished to a small island where she was to bear her illegitimate child alone. Distraught over being alone she placed a spell on herself that she would never again feel the agony of love, this intern became a curse on all men who would dare to love an Owens woman.

Present day we are introduced to the new generation of Owens sisters, Gillian (Nicole Kidman) and Sally (Sandra Bullock). Gillian is a party girl, the loose cannon who proceeds into horrible situations without thinking. Sally is the level headed one and in her youth vowed she would never fall in love unless her perfect man (which she believed would never exist) came along. Eventually Sally did fall in love and she was never happier until he was tragically killed... due to the curse. With two young children Sally attempts to bring her life back together, but that doesn't last very long.

She soon gets a call from Gillian who has gotten herself mixed up with loser of a boyfriend and fears for her life. Sally travels to bring back Gillian but ends up getting mixed into a situation which leads to some unplanned occurrences, in a hasty attempt to cover up their mess Gillian and Sally create an even bigger one. To make things right they must learn to rely on themselves and their abilities and look to the help of others, a decision that could lead to the destruction of the curse and a resurgence of happiness in the family.

If the first half of Practical Magic had been as good as the second half I would be agreeing with most of the people who give this a relatively high score, but sadly in my opinion it wasn't. I found the first 30 minutes or so of the film to be very mediocre and at points incredibly boring, it wasn't till about the time when Sally went to bring back Gillian that I actually began to find the film interesting. It's probably the fact that this is supposed to be a romantic comedy, yet it's never very funny, and the romance doesn't appear until the second half of the film.

Also I thought the killing off of Sally's husband was a little ridiculous as he's struck down by a vehicle after standing in the middle of the street for over a minute!  It doesn't seem plausible that the person driving wouldn't have seen him! The acting was okay, I'm not a huge fan of Nicole Kidman so I can take her or leave her, and it isn't the best role I have seen Sandra Bullock in, but her character does get better as the film progresses.

In the end, Practical Magic is a nice Halloween holiday film, but it isn't that great of a romance or romantic comedy. It has too many highs and lows in the construction of the story and the flow of the film seemed to never find a steady point. Had the film been more balanced like the second half I'd be giving this film a higher score, but overall it's simply a decent Halloween film and nothing much more. 

7/10