Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman are wonderful as two sisters in this movie. Their on-screen chemistry is amazing. You can't help but smile as they joke with each other and interact because it reminds you of how you were with a close sibling or how you wish you could be with one.

Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest are amazing. As supporting actresses, they almost steal the show as they are described as the aunts who are "sugar and spice" by the director, Griffin Dunne.

The story is about two sisters who are very close who live with their aunts in what I assume is a New England town. They have the reputation of being "witches" who curse any man who dares love an Owens woman. Of course, Gillian (Nicole Kidman) and Sally (Sandra Bullock) get into a bit of trouble as Gillian's evil boyfriend Jimmy (Goran Visnjic) accidently ends up dead at their hands through self-defense that can be deemed suspicious by anyone else and they try to figure out a way to cover it up. Things get stickier when the Officer Hallet (Adian Quinn) shows up to find the wanted Jimmy and sparks fly between Sally and Officer Hallet. Do they try to send him away and risk Sally losing her one true love? Or do they let him stay and risk Gillian and Sally getting caught while Jimmy's ghost continues to torment Gillian?

This movie is based on a third of Alice Hoffman's wonderful book by the same name. For those of you who have seen the movie (spoiler alert) and are curious about the book, you won't be disappointed. Remember the woman that wished to take another woman's husband? Well, you get to find out what happens to her as well as the adventures that Sally's daughters get into as they grow up. In other words, the book is better than the movie, but the movie is just as fun as the book.

As for those of you who like DVDs and their extra features, it is chock-full of them. From the game of "find the ingredients to mix the love potion" you have to search through the various features in the DVD to click on "ingredients" and get clues as to mixing the love potion which opens up a whole behind-the-scenes featurette. It also contains trailers, bios, and other little tidbits that were artistically designed well and accompanied by wonderful little chimes and music.

This "witch" movie is not quite as dark as "the Craft" (or ridiculous for that matter) as not as sex-filled as "Witches of Eastwick" but genuinely wholesome, fun and delightful. Especially the "Midnight Margaritas" scene which will have you humming the tune for days. A good recommendation for a Halloween movie for most ages.

72 of 79 found the following review helpful:


I loved this movie.  Feb 18, 2001
No matter what religion you are or how you feel about witchcraft, if you enjoy good acting & a great storyline, you'll like this film. Both Bullock & Kidman are excellent & their characters are well-drawn, likable & familiar. Most women will relate to the loves & losses, trials & errors of these independent young women.

They are, of course, different in some ways. Born into a legacy of witches & dark history, the Owens females live under a curse that destroys any man who gets too close to them. (Then again, some of us may have felt 'cursed' more than once in our love lives...)

Bullock plays Sally, the levelheaded one who is determined to have a "normal" life. She falls in love early (w/a little crafty help from the aunts -Stockard Channing & Dianne Wiest), then marries & has two daughters who look exactly like she & 'Gillie' (Kidman). For a few years, Sally is blissfully happy until the day she hears the cricket chirp - a sign of impending death. After her husband is killed, Sally falls into a depression so deep that only her sister can pull her out.

They have an unbreakable bond - not only of blood & love, but of spirit. The strength of this bond actually saves Gillie's life, when she manages to hook-up with an evil madman who 'comes back' from death. The ending is quite well done.

This was a movie about belief, trust, family & a very old fight - good vs. evil. It was also about a love strong & pure enough to break a centuries-old curse, true enough to save a woman pulled in the depths of true evil. It is touching, satisfying & emotionally uplifting. Rent it! Then rent it again for the soundtrack alone!

34 of 37 found the following review helpful:


AN ENCHANTINGLY ENTERTAINING FILM  Oct 01, 2003
A truly magical ancestress, a witch in very deed, escapes the hangman's noose only to place a curse on herself and her female posterity. What ensues is an enchantingly wonderful, though sometimes dark, tale of two witch sisters who live to deal with the family curse.

Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock star as the witch sisters who approach their upbringing in magic very differently. Bullock's character, the level headed and pragmatic Sally, wants nothing more than to find true love and live a normal life while her sister Gillian (Kidman) wants to live it up and change the men in her life like most people change their socks.

The two join magical forces when one of Gillian's assorted men emerges as a sinister character played by Goran Visnjic. Their adventures seem to have gone well until a lawman (Aidan Quinn) shows up with all too many questions and seems all too familiar to Sally.

Perhaps even more appealing than Kidman and Bullock from the standpoint of screen presence, Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing star as a couple of enchanting -- almost Victorian -- aunts of our two heroines that are absolutely spellbinding and unforgettable.

Practical Magic, regardless of the theme, is not a Halloween flick like Hocus Pocus and should not be avoided by any who might think that it has seasonal appeal.

An enchantingly entertaining film!

Douglas McAllister

31 of 34 found the following review helpful:


The BEST movie involving the Craft I've ever seen  Aug 07, 2000 By Feywild "Feywild"
As a Wiccan, I was happily surprised at the treatment of witches in this film. Unlike the power-hungry, psycho teenyboppers of The Craft (a horrendous, disgusting film! ), this movie treated their witches with a light, humorous touch. As a romantic, I couldn't recommend this movie more.

Though the special effects were very Hollywood, you have to keep in mind that this movie was made by Hollywood. No, we can't float off roofs; no, we can't raise the dead. Still, all in all, it was a beautiful movie; an affirmation of witchiness!

There was little treatment of the religion of Wicca, but then again the women were never stated to be Wiccan. They are witches, yes, but that's not necessarily the same thing. Some of my favorite movie lines are in this movie (the other is "Ghostbusters"): "There is no Devil in the Craft."; "You can't practice magic while looking down your nose at it."; and "There's a little witch in all of us."

I love this movie. I will watch it again and again and again. And I find myself singing the songs by Faith Hill and Stevie Nicks (wonderful, magickal Stevie!) at work in the middle of the day.

Buy it. Watch it. Love it.

14 of 16 found the following review helpful:


Simply Magical  Mar 20, 2000 By Amanda Goodwin
After reading the excellent novel by Alice Hoffman, I was excited to see this movie, since rearely are there any good films made about witches, especially romantic comedies. But 'Practical Magic' is charming. Yes, Aidan Quinn could've done SO much better (he didn't seem all there), but other than that, it's great. Stockard Channing and Dianne Weist are adorable. Channing plays the delightfully abrasice aunt, while Weist is the sweet gentle one (quite a change from her role as the Wicked Queen in NBC's the 10th Kingdom). Kidman is so scatterbrained you have to love her. And, as usual, Sandra Bullock plays the reserved romantic, which suits her acting ability. You can also see ER's Goran Visjinc playing the crazed abusive boyfriend (very different from his ER character). All in all, this movie was excellent, although Quinn's performance was dull. Still worth the money.

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