I saw a lot of movies in the theater during the summer of 1998. I remember seeing the still promos for “Practical Magic” while waiting for movie after movie and slowly building up anticipation for it. I like Sandra Bullock and have enjoyed most of the movies I’ve seen her in. I’m not so much a Nicole Kidman fan, but I figured she would do a pretty good job and had no dim expectations.
So imagine my surprise when the movie started showing and I began to read bad reviews. I went to see “Practical Magic” in the first week and really enjoyed it. There are a number of memorable scenes which left an enchanted impression upon me. How could these critics not see a good movie for what it was? Well, they’re critics. I ignored them and went back to see the movie again and again. I even started to develop a Web site for it, but Real Life ™ invaded my privacy and I had to let that project drop for a few months.
One of the best aspects of the movie is the soundtrack. A soundtrack can hurt a movie if the music doesn’t suit the theme of the story or the characters. Throughout “Practical Magic” I couldn’t help but appreciate the selections made for the various scenes, my favorite of which is the scene where Sally falls under the aunts’ love spell and runs into town looking for Michael. They couldn’t have picked a better song than Faith Hill’s “This Kiss” as a backdrop. It sets the mood for the intensity of their love and just sort of makes their eyes glow as they stare at one another.
Another scene I enjoyed was “Midnight Margaritas”. I never dreamed I’d see a movie which made use of Harry Nilsson’s “Coconut”, a song I fell in love with way back in 1972. Nilsson has been dead a long time and I don’t often hear his songs on the radio any more, so I had come to feel he’d been forgotten. Anyone who has heard the charming “Me and my arrow”, about a round-headed boy living in a land where everone has a pointed head, or “Everybody’s Talkin'”, from “Midnight Cowboy”, or the haunting “Without You”, knows what a great talent Nilsson had for writing songs.
The movie plays to nostalgic audiences in utilizing Willie Nelson’s immortal “You are always on my mind” more than once. Although I could do without the drunken Jimmy Angelo’s rendition of the classic hit, I liked the way the aunts began to sing it during the “Midnight Margaritas” scene. As a theme song for Jimmy, it does underscore his obsession with Gillian.
I don’t usually watch or enjoy contemporary fantasy movies. I like action films (movies made for guys who like movies, as TNT would say) and only occasionally get into syrupy character dramas. But there is a nice mixture of comedy, drama, and fantasy in “Practical Magic”. A lot of the movie is very soft, in the sense that the actors play down their parts. The scenes with Aidan Quinn (Gary Hallot) and Sandra Bullock are particularly interesting for me because there is an undercurrent of something stronger than mere human emotion. Of course they’re implying that Sally’s childhood love spell may be at work, but there is a natural chemistry between the two which makes them an appealing couple. It’s not the usual “hot sexy guy falls for hot sexy girl” scenario.
The magic is not overdone. One of the complaints I’ve read is that it was underdone. Not enough magic in the movie? It virtually oozes magic in every scene. What were people looking for, bolts of lightning flying from Sandra’s fingers, ala the Emperor in “Return of the Jedi”? I liked the way the spoon stirs itself in the cup, not once, but twice. I like the way the aunts have a spell or herb for everything. Some of their practical magic is what J.R.R. Tolkien would have called the “everyday sort of normal magic”, the same quality we should be able to find in all of us. Call it attitude. Call it passion. I think one of the movie’s underlying themes is that we can each make our own magic in some special way.
Another complaint I’ve come across is that the movie leaves out so much of the story from Alice Hoffman’s book. Well, yeah, movies do that. But people also miss a great deal in movies if they don’t see them more than once. The critic who complained that the aunts were not portrayed as very old missed the fact that Gary was told all sorts of stuff about them while investigating Sally and Gillian in the village. And, yes, someone makes the comment that they never age. It’s a very subtle testimony to the agelessness of the aunts. The movie shouldn’t dwell on the fact. It has a story to tell.
I must have seen this movie in the theater a half dozen times. I wish I could have seen it more often. I’ve watched it on pay-per-view, and now I’ve rented the video. When I can finally purchase my own copy I’ll add it to my collection and enjoy it for years to come.
Practical Magic Links
The official movie Web site – This is one of the best “Official” Web sites I’ve ever come across. You can see pictures and read background notes about how the movie was made. I hope they don’t ever take this site down. (Editor’s Note: They did take the site down. The link points to an Archive.Org version.)
Coming Soon — Practical Magic Starring Sandy and Nicole Kidman – This is one of the first fannish sites I found for the movie. The main page hasn’t been updated since before the movie was released to the theaters, but there are some pictures here.
BethD’s Sandra Bullock page – Site contains Sandra B. info, news, quotes, and more.
Entertainment Weekly’s review of the movie (October 18, 1998) – This is a very thorough and in-depth look at the movie. (Archive.Org copy dated Dec-05-1998)
Entertainment Weekly Online’s review of the movie (October 16, 1998) – Another review. (Archive copy dated Feb-24-1999)
Entertainment Weekly Online interview with Aidan Quinn – (Archive copy dated Jun-30-2001)
San Juan Island update – A bit of news from the period of April 3 through May 25, 1998, when they were working on the movie in the San Juan area.
Sandra Bullock bio and filmography – The Online Movie Club’s Sandra Bullock page. (Archive copy dated Jun-27-2001)
Hollywood Online’s review of the movie – (Archive copy dated Jan-27-1999)