I haven't read the novel, but what I can say about Practical Magic is that it's a perfect example of a very well edited trailer that was highly successful in its goal of making the film look cuter, smarter, sexier and more entertaining than it actually was.
Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock were fine, though it might have been interesting to see them cast against type in reverse roles - Sandy as the Bad Girl, Nicole as the Good Girl. They are both best in this film when they are flirtatious, sarcastic, drunk and hungover, but I think one emotion which neither one of them is terrific at expressing is fear (Bullock's a little better in this department). Unfortunately, because the film is trying to balance light comedy with dark forces there is call for a lot of gasping and swooning that is highly unbecoming to two such talented eyelash-batters. And most of the gasping and swooning is done with a complete lack of humor.
Also - a contrived ending in which all the women in the town who have previously taunted the Owens sisters for 20 years with cat-calls of witchery and projectile garden vegetables are suddenly interested in coming over to their house to help them perform an exorcism. Why the sudden change? It's insulting to sum it up with "there's a little witch in every woman." Hundreds of years of fear cannot be overcome by a single telephone call. It's absolute silliness to watch these women prance around, embracing witchcraft when they have expended so much energy denouncing it.
Overall this is a fluffy, erratic and unorganized movie whose success is wholly dependent on the attractiveness of its two adorable stars (both, in this case, well-heeled in the latest neo-bohemian fashions).
Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock were fine, though it might have been interesting to see them cast against type in reverse roles - Sandy as the Bad Girl, Nicole as the Good Girl. They are both best in this film when they are flirtatious, sarcastic, drunk and hungover, but I think one emotion which neither one of them is terrific at expressing is fear (Bullock's a little better in this department). Unfortunately, because the film is trying to balance light comedy with dark forces there is call for a lot of gasping and swooning that is highly unbecoming to two such talented eyelash-batters. And most of the gasping and swooning is done with a complete lack of humor.
Also - a contrived ending in which all the women in the town who have previously taunted the Owens sisters for 20 years with cat-calls of witchery and projectile garden vegetables are suddenly interested in coming over to their house to help them perform an exorcism. Why the sudden change? It's insulting to sum it up with "there's a little witch in every woman." Hundreds of years of fear cannot be overcome by a single telephone call. It's absolute silliness to watch these women prance around, embracing witchcraft when they have expended so much energy denouncing it.
Overall this is a fluffy, erratic and unorganized movie whose success is wholly dependent on the attractiveness of its two adorable stars (both, in this case, well-heeled in the latest neo-bohemian fashions).
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