Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Practical Magic (1998)

When I watch a movie that involves magic, I ask myself whether the story would work without the magic.  In the case of Practical Magic, it most certainly would work.

This is the story of two sisters with an especially close bond.  They grew up in the care of their elderly aunts because they were orphaned.  They live on the island to which their ancestor was banished over 200 years ago after the community failed to hang her as a witch.  Mary Owens expected her lover to come and rescue her, but he never did.  She vowed never to fall in love, and eventually she cast a curse out of bitterness.  Any man who fell in love with an Owens woman was doomed to die early.  And that is just the first five minutes. 

The cast nearly outshines the story.

Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman play the girls -- Sally and Gilliam Owens -- as young adults.  They are not just pretty faces, although they are pretty.  They are fine actors. 

The two girls who play them as children are also good.  Camilla Belle plays Sally at age 11, and Lora Anne Criswell plays Gillian at age 10.  They also play Sally’s two children.  

As a child, Sally casts a spell to prevent herself from falling in love.  She asks for a man who couldn’t possibly exist, so she will never fall in love.  When she is an adult and that man appears at her garden gate, what will she do?

The two aunts are also played by excellent actors:  Stockard Channing as Aunt Frances “Fran” Owens, and Dianne Wiest as Aunt Bridget “Jet” Owens.

Goran Visnjic plays the perfect villain, Jimmy Angelov.  Aidan Quinn plays the perfect hero, Officer Gary Hallet, who comes to the island from Arizona, looking for Jimmy Angelov.  The problem is that the girls have killed Jimmy and buried his body in the garden. 

This movie has plenty of hilarious moments, very few that make you cringe, and a demonic possession that is better than anything in The Exorcist because in Practical Magic, the director had the sense not to push it over the top.  I highly recommend watching it, and watching it several times.  You will pick up things on the second viewing that you missed on the first, and even though you enjoyed it the first time, you will like it even more the second time.    


Technical info from IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120791/

Runtime:  104 min
Sound Mix:  Dolby Digital  | SDDS  | DTS
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:   2.35 : 1

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good Date Movie