21 August 2009. This popular, mass audience romantic fantasy casts a bit of magic over the whole family comedy movie with dramatic elements. Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman along with veteran actresses Stockard Channing and Diane Wiest with a strong supporting role from Goran Visnjic form a delightful, lighthearted romp in witchcraft. At the same time dramatic and horror elements are carefully and smoothly introduced that balanced this overall entertaining movie. While this isn't' some serious dramatic endeavor nor a script that is award-winning, Practical Magic is a strong contender for a permanent place in children's and adolescent bedtime viewing just like bedtime stories were told by their mothers decades ago. 8/10.
Practical Magic
1998
Action / Comedy / Drama / Fantasy / Romance
Plot summary
Sisters Sally Owens (Sandra Bullock) and Gillian Owens (Nicole Kidman) have a special bond with each other despite being different in personality and outlook. Having grown up with their spinster Aunt Frances (Stockard Channing) and Aunt Jet (Dianne Wiest) in the long time Owens family house on an island off the coast of Massachusetts following the death of their father and then their mother, they are the latest in a long line of witches. Rumors of the Owens women being witches have existed for generations in the small close-minded town in which they live, despite there being no hard evidence. The Owens women are also under a curse that any man with who they fall in love is doomed. With this experience, extroverted Gillian decides to leave the island to live life to the fullest, in the process, falling for Jimmy Angelov (Goran Visnjic),a Bulgarian who grew up near Transylvania. More introspective Sally, who has sworn off the use of magic except in its most practical sense, has taken measures not to fall in love because of the curse, but ends up falling for and marrying Michael (Mark Feuerstein),a local merchant, the two who end up having two daughters of their own. The curse works its way into Gillian's and Sally's lives in different ways. The outcomes of the curse on their collective lives become more complicated with the arrival into town of Tuscon Police Detective Gary Hallet (Aidan Quinn),whose arrival is not by accident and involves more than just his stated professional purpose.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Evan Rachel Wood as Kylie
Sandra Bullock as Sally Owens
Nicole Kidman as Gillian Owens
Camilla Belle as Sally @ Age 11
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU 759.73 MB
1280*534
English 2.0
PG-13
Movie Reviews
Reviewed by
Magical
Reviewed by
Light and entertaining
Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest indulge in some "Practical Magic," a 1998 film directed by Griffin Dunne. Bullock and Kidman play sisters, Sally and Gillian, both of whom are witches. One (Kidman) is free-wheeling and out in the world, and Bullock is a widowed mother with children who refuses to have anything to do with magic. One of their ancestors put a curse on any man involved with a woman in her family, and the curse lost the sisters their father and Bullock's husband. Her two aunts, however, Francis and Bridget (Channing and Wiest) still practice their spells. When Gillian takes up with the wrong man (again) (Goran Visjnic),she calls Sally. As a result of Sally's help, they find themselves in a lot of trouble and have to take drastic measures. Things don't work out as planned.
I'm not sure what the problem is - it appears that some people on IMDb expect every film to be Magnolia, and if it isn't, they reject it as junk. This movie is what it is intended to be - light, with some suspense, some scares, some fun, lots of warmth, and great characters. If you read the book, disappointment is more understandable, and I feel your pain.
The acting is excellent, with four top actresses as the stars, and the relationships between them are excellent as well. As others have mentioned, the best part of the film is when they start calling neighbors so they can have a coven.
Highly recommended.
Reviewed by
Bewitched
A kookie chick-flick with a plot that resembles a supernatural remake of 'What a Way to Go!' with a bit of 'The Monkey's Paw' (and an appropriately twee score by Alan Silvestri) thrown in.
With Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock as the sisters and Stockard Channing and Diane Wiest as their 'bohemian' aunts it can't fail to provide a diverting couple of hours.