Practical Magic (Snap Case Packaging)

Practical Magic (Snap Case Packaging)

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DVD Reviews of Practical Magic (Snap Case Packaging)

DVD Review: "Bewitched" Meets "The Exorcist"
Summary: 3 Stars

I have to register one major gripe with this film. I mean, it truly drove me nuts. In the opening scene, when the girls' ancestor, witch Maria Owens, is about to be hanged, the noose around her neck isn't even pulled tight. It's about two feet across and, if she'd actually taken the big fall, would've slipped right off her head. Amazing sloppiness on the filmmakers' part. It's hard to get caught up in a movie when, during the very first scene, you're shaking your head and muttering, "What were they THINKING?"

The Owens women, thanks to a curse laid by Maria, are doomed to have any man they love die. Sally as a little girl has the perfect solution: she casts a spell wishing for a man with an impossible list of attributes. "He will hear my call a mile away. He will whistle my favorite song. He can ride a pony backwards. He can flip pancakes in the air. He'll be marveously kind. And his favorite shape will be a star." Since such a man can't possibly exist, she'll never be in love, thus never suffer a broken heart. Years later Sally falls in love, not with her dream man but a normal guy, they marry and have two beautiful daughters - then he's run over in the street. Sally, recognizing the curse, concludes she'll never love again. Then one day, up shows Aidan Quinn....

Trailers for this film were really misleading. If all you knew about Practical Magic came from them, you'd think it was a bright, happy romantic comedy. While there are certainly elements of that in here, it's actually a weird and not entirely successful blend of comedy, romance and violent, creeped-out horror story.

Scenes like Sally kissing her future husband for the first time to the bouncy strains of Faith Hill's "This Kiss" or an entire family of witches, dressed in black Halloween finery, opening their umbrellas on top of a tall house, then jumping off and drifting to the ground Mary Poppins-style, are charming. They make a strange mix, however, with things like Sally bludgeoning a man to death with a frying pan, or Nicole Kidman, possessed by the spirit of that self-same dead man (who happens to be a serial woman killer) running her tongue slooooowly along one of Sandra Bullock's incredible cheekbones and hissing, "I'm feeling VERY into sisters right now." (Got to hand it to Nicole Kidman, she does "possessed" very well. Linda Blair has nothing on this woman. Personally, I'm holding out for a movie where Nicole Kidman plays a vampire. She's already got that pale, bloodless, languid look about her; she only needs a pair of sexy needle point fangs to really rock.)

But....I digress.

In later scenes, the witch-phobic wives of the town, after decades of despising the Owens women, when called upon by Sally to help in Gillian's exorcism, instantly and cheerfully pitch in. This stretches the suspension of disbelief, to say the least.

There are good things here, mostly Sandra Bullock, owner of one of the most beautiful, expressive faces and solid set of acting skills in Hollywood. It's just awfully hard not to like Sally Owens. She's so achingly decent (and looks just like Sandra Bullock, always a positive thing). Sally's been hard used by life, but still tries to hold it all together, be a good mother to her daughters, help Gillian in her time of need, she's ALMOST given up hope she'll ever again find love and happiness. You can't help but root for Sally. She's irresistible.

Let's not forget Nicole Kidman, who obviously had a blast making this movie. No one, no matter how good an actress, could sport the evil little grin Gillian has in the "being turned around by two girls while bound to a chair" scene without the actress in question having the time of her life. Gillian is the dark to Sally's light, and for all their differences the bond between the sisters, their very real love, is well presented and quite believable.

Practical Magic can't seem to decide whether it wants to be an upbeat, life affirming romantic comedy or a grim, frightening horror movie. By trying to be both at once, it ultimately fails at both. At the same time, though the pieces of the movie don't fit very well, some of the individual pieces are fascinating. This is certainly an interesting failure, compelling in its way. If Practical Magic doesn't totally succeed, it fails while trying to pull off something quite unusual. I'm glad I saw it.

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