I wanna make my own man, too. (Practical Magic (DVD))

Member Name: MorganaDQ

Product:	Practical Magic (DVD)
Date:	14/11/01 (165 review reads)
Rating:

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My husband must think I'm crazy. It's approaching 9pm and I suddenly announce I'm going to bed. At 9pm??? What on earth for? Well, we have a TV in the bedroom and I was gonna go curl up under my big warm duvet and watch Practical Magic.

"But I was planning to watch it anyway", says he. But you know, there are times a girl just wants to be alone with a good movie and some chocolate, and last night was one of those times.

I hadn't a clue what it was about, all I knew was that Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman were witches. So, no hype, no criticisms in mind, no looking for faults. There I lay, eyes on the screen and choccy in hand, willing to forget that this could end up being another sly dig at witchcraft and a chalked up score for the moralistic bible-bashers (they may be few and far between, but they're seemingly alive and well and making movies in Hollywood), and enjoy it for the pure escapism that it was.

And you know what? It was lovely. I don't think I've ever used that word to describe a film before, but there it is. Lovely.

But why was it lovely? Well, it had beautiful people doing good magic. It carried the moral of, "don't judge what you don't understand" and made the point well without shoving it in our faces. It had that slightly golden glow about it, which stopped it becoming too dark. It had humour, danger, music, heartbreak and love. Oh yes, it had lots of love.

I guess I should tell you a little (but not too much) about the story.

Well, lots and lots of years ago a woman (a witch) was left heartbroken by her lover. She vowed never to let another man love her, and as more time went on, and she grew more and more bitter, her wishes turned to a curse. From that moment on, all men whom an Owens woman falls in love with will die.

We come to see a little of Sally and Gillian's childhood, being raised by their two Aunts,
Jet and Frances. We watch a little of the magic they learn and their hopes and dreams. We witness a spell cast by Sally for a man who doesn't exist, so that she may never fall in love when she grows up.

And now we reach the present day. Sally and Gillian are older now, and Gillian runs off to be with her boyfriend. Sally has a natural gift for magic but she wants to be normal. The whole town ignore her and her Aunts, or show their disdain towards them, knowing the gossip which surrounds them and their craft, and a fear accompanies the gossip.

Normal to Sally is a husband and children, and no magic. The Aunts know this, and so they cast a spell for her to find the love and the life she wants. Meantime, Gillian is living it up with her poolside party existence with her many friends and her dark, mysterious lover.

So the questions which remain, as I'm not going to tell you any more of the plot, are - does Sally find the life she dreamed of? Does Giliian end her days living it up by the pool? And what of her mysterious, intense boyfriend? Does the curse continue? Does the man Sally cast the spell for really exist?

Oh, so many questions. But patience, lovely readers, all will be revealed when (or, indeed, if) you watch the movie to it's end.

I was a little sceptical about the casting of Sandra Bullock (Sally) and Nicole Kidman (Gillian), but they worked together wonderfully. Yes, they had that weepy, almost dreamlike look on their faces for half the film, but it doesn't matter. It kind of added to it a little.

They both put in good (though not stunning) performances, Nicole Kidman being more a character than I've seen in her in a long time, and it was lovely to see. She seemed to come out of her shell a little for this role. Sandra Bullock seems to have been flowering the last few years, and in this film makes no exception. She does seem to have matured somewhat for this role, a
lthough there are childlike qualities in the character enough for her to stay a little more light-hearted than I would have expected, which certainly isn't a bad thing.

Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest, as Aunt Frances and Aunt Jet respectively, did their characters justice, too. Dianne Wiest always looks to me as though she's gonna cry from sheer elation at any moment (irritating, no?), but makes a good ageing witch nonetheless. Stockard Channing, on the other hand, was excellent. She had a twinkle in her eye throughout the film and played the eccentricity wonderfully. As a pair, they worked off each other very well and seemed to give it their best from start to finish.

Aiden Quinn appears, too, as a police officer. Oh, have I sparked more interest? I didn't mention any police before, now did I? Well, the character's lovely. Aiden Quinn's lovely. It's all just lovely, isn't it? But really, he works well with every character he's in a scene with. Whether it's as a potential love interest for Sally (with whom, by the way, he works very well indeed), or a brief but noticable father-like role with her children (whom are also excellent, though one seemed favoured above the other for some reason), or with any of the numerous bit parts (whom were all great, too), he worked in every single little scene.

Goran Visnjic plays Jimmy, Gillian's dark, intense boyfriend, and he does it so very well. He's one of those actors I always remember the face of, but can never recall what else he's been in. It's a shame, too, because he's excellent. Very dark, mysterious, intense, and oh so lovely with it. He reminds me of Antonio Banderas, but with more danger. Mmmmm.

But anyway, those are the main players, and they're lovely.

The secondary characters all played their parts well, caricaturing the stereotypes perfectly. From gossiping housewives and mothers, to quirk
y witch wannabes. The taunting children were even good.

The special effects were nothing astounding, but they were pretty to watch on occasion. They served simply to enhance the magic, which stands to reason I suppose. But it wasn't overdone. It's fantasy, at the end of the day. It's Hollywood's idea of magic; stirring your coffee without touching the spoon, changing a name on a piece of paper without writing on it, lighting a candle with your breath, you name it, it seemed to be done. But it was done in a nice way.

It's a nice film, you see. It's meant to be. It's escapism with a little humour and a little fantasy, with a little romance thrown in. And of course, I couldn't not mention the leading ladies' flowing locks, now could I? The hair was almost mystical in itself.

The music served the film well, but not memorably so. I can't for the life of me pick out one little itty bitty song, but never mind, eh?

This is a feel-good movie. It's not meant to challenge anyone's way of thinking, it's just entertainment. It's not true to the powers of a witch, it's simply escapism. It won't shock you, and it probably won't even bring a tear to your eye. There are no nude scenes, there's no swearing, and the violence is minimal to say the least.

It's not suitable for young children because there's a little darkness to it. If I recall correctly it's rated 13, but I could be wrong. It seems about right to me, though.

As long as you approach it with an open mind and you don't expect a masterpiece, you'll enjoy it.

I do wish I hadn't finished off that choccy, though.

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