Practical Magic (1998)
| Practical Magic (1998) |
| Cast: | Sandra Bullock | Sally Owens |
| Nicole Kidman | Gillian Owens | |
| Stockard Channing | Aunt Frances Owens | |
| Dianne Wiest | Aunt Jet Owens | |
| Goran Visnjic | Jimmy Angelov | |
| Aidan Quinn | Gary Hallet | |
| Evan Rachel Wood | Kylie Owens | |
| Alexandra Artrip | Antonia Owens | |
| Mark Feuerstein | Michael |
Review by Erin Walker
Orphans Gillian and Sally Owens (Nicole Kidman, Sandra Bullock) are benevolent witches, the fourth generation of Owens women who cast spells and brew up love philters on the kitchen stove. Raised by deeply eccentric aunties Frances and Jet (Stockard Channing, Diane Wiest) in the shadow of the family curse -- any man who loves them is doomed -- the girls attempt to dodge cruel fate in wildly different ways.
Serious brunette Sally hides beneath a cloak of normality: She gets married, has two daughters and joins the PTA, among other Parent Teacher groups at her girls' school, until the click of a deathwatch beetle portends her husband's death in a bizarre accident. Red-headed Gill, by contrast, becomes a feckless slut, saving her parade of male conquests and admirers from death by abandoning them. That is, until she meets Jimmy Angelov (Goran Visnjic), a Euro-trash cowboy with some nasty secrets.
Practical Magic is a sweet tale of female bonding and sisterhood. It's nice to see, onscreen, the reality of what sisters would or wouldn't do for one another. In this case, there is nothing either of them wouldn't do.
Rating:
Trivia:
Sandra Bullock was quite a busy body in 1998, featured in five films released that year. In addition to Prcactical Magic, she also appeared in Hope Floats, Making Sandwiches, The Prince of Egypt, and Welcome to Hollywood. In sharp contrast, she appeared in only one film in each of 1997 and 1999: 1997's Speed 2: Cruise Control, and 1999's Forces of Nature.
Links:
The Official Practical Magic Website
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