Practical Magic

My partner recently asked me if I wanted to go with her to the cinema to watch Practical Magic 2. Now, I’m never going to say no to a trip to the cinema, so obviously I agreed. There was just one slight problem. I had never seen the original Practical Magic. In fact, I’d never even heard of it, which surprised me considering it’s a 90s movie starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. So, in preparation for the sequel, we sat down together to watch the first film, and this Practical Magic movie review is the result of finally seeing what I’d apparently been missing all these years.

Unfortunately, watching Practical Magic has not made me excited or intrigued to see another one. Quite the opposite. This is easily one of the worst films I’ve watched in a while. I went into it completely blind, with no expectations whatsoever, and somehow it still managed to disappoint me. I genuinely spent large portions of the film wondering what exactly I was watching and, more importantly, what the film itself thought it was supposed to be.

As with all of my reviews, I judge a movie purely on what is presented to me on screen. I haven’t read Alice Hoffman’s novel that Practical Magic is based on, so I have absolutely no comparison when it comes to whether this is a faithful adaptation. Maybe the book explains things better. Maybe the characters are more developed. Maybe the story actually makes sense. I genuinely don’t know. What I will say is that if this is a faithful adaptation of the book, then I have absolutely no interest in reading it.

My first and biggest issue is that Practical Magic feels completely confused about what kind of movie it wants to be. It opens like this whimsical witchy romance about the Owens family curse, where any man that the women of the family truly fall in love with is destined to die. So naturally, I assumed we were heading into a lighthearted romantic comedy with a bit of magic thrown in. Then suddenly the movie shifts into physical abuse, death, accidental murder, hiding a body, resurrection, possession and supernatural horror before eventually remembering that it also wants to be a love story. Pick a lane! I have absolutely no problem with films blending genres, and some of the best movies do exactly that, but those different elements need to complement each other. Here, it feels like several completely different movies have been stitched together.

It also means that some of the film’s darker moments never have the impact they probably should. Gillian’s relationship with Jimmy involves genuine physical abuse and becomes increasingly disturbing, but the movie never seems comfortable sitting with that darkness for very long. Before you know it, we’re moving back towards quirky magic, romance or comedy. Then we have murder, resurrection and supernatural possession thrown into the mix. There are serious ideas buried underneath all of this, but because the tone changes so frequently, very little is given enough time to breathe. Instead of the lighter moments making the darkness more effective, and vice versa, they constantly seem to undermine each other.

Then we get to some of the decisions these characters make, and this is where I started questioning everything. We’ve established that there is a curse which kills the men these women fall in love with. Everyone knows about it, especially the aunts. Yet Aunt Frances and Aunt Jet cast a spell on a local man so that he falls in love with Sally. Sally marries him, has children with him and, surprise surprise, he dies. I understand that the aunts wanted Sally to be happy because she was lonely, but surely you can see the slight ethical problem here? You’ve magically pushed this man towards a woman whose family curse specifically kills the men she loves. You essentially signed his death warrant because your niece was unhappy!

And then Sally eventually meets Gary, the seemingly impossible man she wished for as a child. By the end of the movie, the romantic implication is obvious, but I was sitting there thinking, “Hang on, is the curse not still active?” Have I missed something? Has it disappeared? Has it been broken? Because if it hasn’t, Sally is potentially doing exactly the same thing again. We’re supposed to root for Sally and want her to find happiness, but all I could think about was this poor bloke unknowingly walking into a family curse that has already killed one husband. Someone might want to give Gary a heads up before this relationship gets serious.

The townspeople are another part of the story that completely baffled me. Throughout the movie, the Owens women are treated as outsiders because everyone believes they’re witches. Sally is mocked, the family is avoided and we even see people throwing rocks at them. This prejudice has apparently existed for generations. Then we reach the third act and Sally basically calls everyone over because she needs a group of women to form a coven and help save Gillian. And they just… turn up! Where did this sudden acceptance come from? You’ve spent decades being terrified of this family and treating them like outcasts, but now Sally needs help performing witchcraft and everyone’s suddenly thinking, “Yeah, sounds brilliant. What time should I come over?” It is such a huge emotional turnaround that I simply didn’t buy it.

I will give the film credit for one thing though, because despite how negative this Practical Magic movie review has been so far, visually there is definitely something appealing about the film.. It has that unmistakable 90s look and a cosy, autumnal, witchy atmosphere that I can completely understand people becoming attached to. The Owens house in particular has plenty of character, and there are moments where the combination of the setting, magic and family dynamic creates the sort of comforting supernatural atmosphere the movie is clearly aiming for. I suspect that atmosphere is a big part of why the film has remained popular. Unfortunately for me, a nice atmosphere can only carry a movie so far when I’m struggling to connect with the story underneath it.

What makes the whole thing more frustrating is that the cast is actually really good. Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman have great chemistry together and genuinely feel like sisters. Their relationship is easily the strongest element of the movie, particularly because there’s a believable warmth between them even when everything around them becomes increasingly ridiculous. Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest are also entertaining as Frances and Jet, bringing exactly the eccentric energy you’d expect from two unconventional witch aunts. Unfortunately, all four actresses feel wasted in a movie that gives them such a messy story to work with.

And while we’re here, can someone explain why it’s called Practical Magic? Maybe there’s some deeper meaning from the book that has been lost in translation, but purely from watching the film, I have absolutely no idea what the title is supposed to mean. What exactly is practical about any of this magic? Half the spells seem to cause significantly more problems than they solve. If anything, Impractical Magic would have been a considerably more accurate title.

The biggest problem underneath everything is that I never really cared about what was happening. There are ideas here that could have made for an interesting story. A family of witches burdened by a generational curse that kills anyone they truly love is a fantastic concept. There’s romance, tragedy, sisterhood, supernatural horror and generations of family history to explore. Somehow, though, Practical Magic takes all of those ingredients and produces a film that feels strangely empty. There’s no strong story holding everything together, and because the film jumps between so many different ideas and tones, I never became properly invested in the characters or what was happening to them.

Overall, if there’s one thing this Practical Magic movie review makes clear, it’s that I went into the film with absolutely no expectations. I hadn’t heard of it, I knew nothing about the story and all I really knew was that it starred Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman and involved witches. The moment the film finished, my partner turned to me and asked, “Well, what did you think?” My immediate response was simply, “What the hell have we just watched?” And honestly, I still think that sums up my experience better than anything else I could write. If you enjoy movies about witches, magic and the supernatural, my advice would be to go and watch pretty much any other witch movie instead. Somehow though, Practical Magic may have just pulled off its greatest trick. I disliked it so much that I’m now even more curious to see Practical Magic 2, just to find out whether the sequel can actually turn this world into something I enjoy. Now that would be practical magic.