''Practical Magic'' is a 1998 American

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

romantic drama Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

film based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Alice Hoffman. The film was directed by

Griffin Dunne Thomas Griffin Dunne (; born June 8, 1955) is an American actor, film producer, and film director. Dunne studied acting at The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City. He is known for portraying Jack Goodman in '' An Amer ...

and stars

Sandra Bullock Sandra Annette Bullock (; born July 26, 1964) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, Bullock was the world's highest-paid actress in 2010 and 2014. In 2010 ...

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an American and Australian actress and producer. Known for her work across various film and television productions from several genres, she has consistently ranked among the world's highest-paid act ...

Stockard Channing Stockard Channing (born Susan Antonia Williams Stockard; February 13, 1944) is an American actress. She is known for playing Betty Rizzo in the film '' Grease'' (1978) and First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series '' The West Wing'' ...

Dianne Wiest Dianne Evelyn Wiest (; born March 28, 1948) is an American actress. She has won two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actress for 1986’s '' Hannah and Her Sisters'' and 1994’s ''Bullets over Broadway'' (both of which were directed by Woo ...

, Aidan Quinn, and Goran Višnjić. Bullock and Kidman play sisters Sally and Gillian Owens, descended from a long line of witches. Raised by their aunts after their parents' death from a family curse, the sisters were taught the uses of practical magic as they grew up. As adults, Sally and Gillian must use their magic to destroy an evil spirit before it kills them. The film is considered a

cult classic A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

Plot

In a small Massachusetts town, the Owens family have been regarded with suspicion for over three centuries due to their ancestor Maria Owens, who survived an attempted execution for witchcraft. Heartbroken when the father of her unborn child never returned to her, Maria cast a spell to prevent herself from ever falling in love again. The spell developed into a curse upon Maria's descendants, dooming any man an Owens woman loves. In the present, Gillian and Sally Owens are taken in by their aunts Frances and Jet after both their parents succumb to the Owens curse. As children, Sally and Gillian are frequently ridiculed by the town's schoolchildren. After witnessing their aunts cast a love spell for a woman obsessed with her beloved, Sally casts a spell on herself to ensure she will only fall in love with a man who possesses certain impossible traits, with the goal that she will never fall in love. Meanwhile Gillian, witnessing the same incident, cannot wait to fall in love. When the girls are teens, Gillian elopes with her boyfriend and leaves for

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. Before Gillian departs, she and Sally make a blood spell to always be faithful to one another. Gillian spends the next decade moving from relationship to relationship across the country, while back in Massachusetts, Sally meets and marries a man named Michael. The two have two young daughters, Kylie and Antonia. After Michael is fatally hit by a truck, Sally and her daughters return to live with the aunts. After the aunts reveal that they secretly cast a love spell on her so that she could marry and be happy, Sally forbids them from teaching her daughters magic. Sally sinks into depression after Michael’s death. Sensing her pain, Gillian astrally projects to Sally and they spend the night reconnecting. Gillian has become involved with a dangerously obsessive man named Jimmy Angelov, whom she drugs with belladonna so she can sleep. Invigorated by Gillian’s visit, Sally finds strength and opens the botanical shop she had planned to with Michael. Gillian calls home in distress and Sally takes off to rescue her. Upon finding her sister, Jimmy holds them both hostage in his car. At Gillian’s insistence, Sally puts belladonna into Jimmy's tequila to sedate him but the dosage inadvertently kills him instead. Realising that the belladonna in Jimmy’s blood would ruin a self-defence plea, the sisters take his body back to the aunts' house. They resurrect him with a forbidden spell, which causes him to return and attack Gillian. Sally kills him again, and the sisters bury his remains in the garden. The aunts are overjoyed at Gillian’s return, but their late night revelries are soured by a malevolent presence they can all sense. When Sally and Gillian deny it, the aunts leave them to clean up their own mess. The next morning, state investigator Gary Hallett arrives from

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

in search of Jimmy, who is also a serial killer. Sally feels drawn to him, with her daughters surmising that he is the impossible man from the childhood love spell. Sally breaks down and confesses to Gary, taking the full blame for Jimmy’s death. Unable to deny their attraction, they kiss but Sally flees when she realises Gary is the man she conjured. Returning home, Sally discovers Jimmy's spirit has possessed Gillian's body. Gary sees Jimmy's spirit emerge. Jimmy tries possessing Gary, but is turned aside by his silver badge. Sally tells Gary he is there because of her spell, the feelings they have for each other are not real, and the family curse will kill him if they pursue a relationship. Gary replies that curses only work if one believes in them, before returning to Tucson. Jimmy possesses Gillian again and tries killing Sally before Frances and Jet return. Realizing she must embrace magic to save her sister, Sally asks the aid of the townswomen and they form a coven to

exorcise Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be d ...

Jimmy's spirit. Their first attempt hurts Gillian and Sally makes them stop. In a moment of inspiration, Sally re-enacts her blood pact with Gillian. Jimmy’s spirit is expelled from Gillian and the family curse is finally broken. Jimmy is sealed into the grave. In Tucson, Gary clears the sisters of any suspicion in Jimmy's case and returns to Massachusetts to be with Sally. By Halloween, the townsfolk have finally embraced the Owens women and gather to watch the witches fly off the roof. The film ends with Sally and Gary sharing a kiss.

Cast

as Sally Owens, a witch who becomes widowed after the Owens curse kills her husband. She abandons magic and doesn't allow her daughters to practice it. **

Camilla Belle Camilla Belle Routh (born October 2, 1986), known professionally as Camilla Belle, is an American actress, director, and producer. Early life Belle was born to Deborah Cristina Gould and Jack Wesley Routh, a country music performer and compos ...

as young Sally Owens *

as Gillian Owens, Sally's free-spirited sister who embraces her heritage, leaves their small town and becomes the victim of an abusive relationship. ** Lora Anne Criswell as young Gillian Owens *

Goran Visnjic Goran may refer to: Ethnic groups *Gorane, or Goran, an ethnic group of northern Africa *Goran (Kurdish tribe), an ethnic group of the Middle East *Gorani (ethnic group), an ethnic group of the southeastern Europe Other uses *Göran, a Swedis ...

as James "Jimmy" Angelov, Gillian's lover. Originally from Bulgaria, he's an abusive alcoholic with a cowboy style who kidnaps the sisters, and is killed by them in self-defense, twice. *

as Frances Owens, aunt of Sally and Gillian, who tends to be frank and assertive. *

as Bridget 'Jet' Owens, aunt of Sally and Gillian, who is kind and gentle. * Aidan Quinn as Investigator Gary Hallet, from Tucson, Arizona, who questions Sally and Gillian in the disappearance of Jimmy Angelov and falls in love with Sally. * Caprice Benedetti as Maria Owens, the first witch in the Owens family and the one who casts the spell that curses all her descendants. *

Evan Rachel Wood Evan Rachel Wood (born September 7, 1987) is an American actress and activist. She is the recipient of a Critics' Choice Television Award as well as three Primetime Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations for her work i ...

as Kylie Owens, Sally's elder daughter, who lives with her mother and the aunts after the death of her father, Michael. She looks and acts like Gillian. *

Alexandra Artrip Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "prot ...

as Antonia Owens, Sally's younger daughter, who also lives with her mother and the aunts after the death of her father. She has dark hair and a spunky personality. *

Mark Feuerstein Mark Feuerstein (; born June 8, 1971) is an American actor, writer, producer and director. He had an early, recurring role in several episodes of '' Caroline in the City'', playing the title character's new boyfriend, and later gained notice in a ...

as Michael, Sally Owens' husband and the late father of Kylie and Antonia Owens. He is a victim of his wife's family curse, which results in his untimely death when their daughters are young. * Peter Shaw as Jack, Sally and Gillian's father, who died from the Owens curse when they were children. * Caralyn Kozlowski as Regina Owens, Sally and Gillian's mother, who committed suicide after losing her husband to the Owens curse. * Chloe Webb as Carla, a good friend of Sally's, who works at her shop. * Lucinda Jenney as Sara, one of the town women, who initially fears the Owens family but later responds to Sally's call for help. * Margo Martindale as Linda Bennett, another friend of Sally's who also works at her shop. *

Martha Gehman Martha Gehman (born 1955) is an American actress and acting coach, perhaps best known for her role as Ophelia in the 1985 cult classic ''The Legend of Billie Jean''. She also had supporting roles in '' The Flamingo Kid'', '' F/X'', ''Threesome' ...

as Patty, one of the town women who responds to Sally's call for help.

Production

''Practical Magic'' was filmed in part on an artificial set in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. Because the film's producers decided the house was a big part of the depiction of the Owens culture, a house to accurately represent that vision was built on San Juan Island in the state of Washington. While much of the set from California was brought to that location and placed inside the house, it took nearly a year to perfect the image of the house and the interior. The house, actually only a shell with nothing inside, was built only for this filming and was torn down after filming was completed. The small town scenes were filmed in downtown Coupeville, Washington, a Victorian-era seaside port town located on the south side of Penn Cove on

Whidbey Island Whidbey Island (historical spellings Whidby, Whitbey, or Whitby) is the largest of the islands composing Island County, Washington, in the United States, and the largest island in Washington State. (The other large island is Camano Island, ...

. According to Sandra Bullock in the DVD commentary, while filming the scene where the Owens women are drunk and slinging insults, the actresses actually got drunk on very bad

tequila Tequila (; ) is a distilled beverage made from the blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila northwest of Guadalajara, and in the Jaliscan Highlands ('' Los Altos de Jalisco'') of the central western Mexican s ...

brought by Kidman. The cast further stated in the film's commentary that they felt supernatural elements of the house started to affect them. Both the cast and crew claimed they heard supernatural noises while filming the coven scene at the end of the film. For the final scene with all of the townspeople at the Owens home, the entire population of the town where filming took place was invited to show up in costume and appear as townsfolk.

Music

Composer

Michael Nyman Michael Laurence Nyman, CBE (born 23 March 1944) is an English composer, pianist, librettist, musicologist, and filmmaker. He is known for numerous film scores (many written during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Gre ...

's score to the movie was abruptly replaced with music by

Alan Silvestri Alan Anthony Silvestri (born March 26, 1950) is an American composer and conductor of film and television scores. He has been associated with director Robert Zemeckis since 1984, composing music for all of his feature films including the ''Bac ...

for the theatrical release. This last-minute change resulted in the release of two soundtracks, although as primarily a

compilation album A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for rel ...

only the two tracks of newly created material were changed. A 50-track demo (the last two tracks being "Convening the Coven" and "Maria Owens") of Nyman's score has been circulating among fans as a

bootleg Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to: * Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially * Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence: ** Moonshine, or illicitly made a ...

. The complete Nyman score runs 62:30 and contains music that would later appear, in altered form, in '' Ravenous'' and ''

The Actors ''The Actors'' is a 2003 film written and directed by Conor McPherson and starring Dylan Moran and Michael Caine. In supporting roles are Michael Gambon, Miranda Richardson and Lena Headey. ''The Actors'' is a contemporary comedy set in Dublin. ...

'', as well as a bit of his stepwise chord progression theme from ''

Out of the Ruins ''Out of the Ruins'' is a choral work by Michael Nyman for an eponymous BBC documentary by Agnieszka Piotrowska in commemorating the first anniversary of the 1988 Spitak earthquake in Armenia 7 December 1988, which aired on the BBC's ''40 Minute ...

''/'' String Quartet No. 3''/'' Carrington''/'' The End of the Affair''/'' The Claim''. "Convening the Coven", though not "Maria Owens," was subsequently reissued on '' The Very Best of Michael Nyman: Film Music 1980–2001'', and music that uses material related to this piece has not been used elsewhere. "Convening the Coven" became "City of Turin" on ''

The Glare ''The Glare'' is a 2009 album pairing Michael Nyman with David McAlmont. McAlmont placed new melodies and lyrics on pre-existing Nyman pieces, including some unreleased music from ''Practical Magic ''Practical Magic'' is a 1998 American fant ...

''. Singer

Stevie Nicks Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and producer known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist. After starting her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, releasi ...

headlined the soundtrack's published advertisements, promoting her song "If You Ever Did Believe" and a new recording of her song "Crystal," both featuring

Sheryl Crow Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She has released eleven studio albums, five compilations and three ...

on back-up vocals. ; Track listing # "If You Ever Did Believe" –

# " This Kiss" –

Faith Hill Audrey Faith McGraw (; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American singer and actress. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold more than 40 million albums worldwide. Hill' ...

# " Got to Give It Up (Pt.1)" –

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

# "Is This Real?" –

Lisa Hall Lisa Ann Hall (born 24 September 1967), née Lisa Ann Hackney, is an English professional golfer who was previously a member of the LPGA Tour and currently plays on the Ladies European Tour. College career Hall accepted an athletic scholarshi ...

# "Black Eyed Dog" –

Nick Drake Nicholas Rodney Drake (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter known for his acoustic guitar-based songs. He did not find a wide audience during his lifetime, but his work gradually achieved wider notice and recognit ...

# " A Case of You" –

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her st ...

# "Nowhere and Everywhere" –

Michelle Lewis Michelle Robin Lewis (born ) is an American singer-songwriter who has released two solo albums. She has since worked as a songwriter for artists including Cher, Shawn Colvin, Hilary Duff, Kay Hanley and Kelly Osbourne. Biography Michelle L ...

# " Always on My Mind" –

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

# "Everywhere" – Bran Van 3000 # "

Coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the f ...

" –

Harry Nilsson Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal ov ...

# "Crystal" – Stevie Nicks # "Practical Magic" –

/ "Convening the Coven" – The Michael Nyman Orchestra # "Amas Veritas" – Alan Silvestri / "Maria Owens" – The Michael Nyman Orchestra

Certifications

Reception

Box office

''Practical Magic'' opened at #1 with $13.1 million in ticket sales. The film went on to gross $68.3 million worldwide, less than its $75 million production budget.

Critical reception

''Practical Magic'' received poor reviews from film critics.

Review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

gives the film a 23% approval rating based on 96 reviews, with an average rating of 4.60/10. The site's consensus states: "''Practical Magic''s jarring tonal shifts sink what little potential its offbeat story may have -- though Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock's chemistry makes a strong argument for future collaborations." Another review aggregator,

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

score out of 100, gives a score of 46 based on reviews from 22 critics. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B-" on an A+ to F scale.

Owen Gleiberman Owen Gleiberman (born February 24, 1959) is an American film critic who has been chief film critic for '' Variety'' magazine since May 2016, a title he shares with . Previously, Gleiberman wrote for ''Entertainment Weekly'' from 1990 until 2014. ...

of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...

'' gave ''Practical Magic'' a negative review, calling it "a witch comedy so slapdash, plodding, and muddled it seems to have had a hex put on it."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the '' Chicago ...

'' said that the film "doesn't seem sure what tone to adopt, veering uncertainly from horror to laughs to romance."

Accolades

In other media

In 2004, Warner Bros. and CBS produced ''Sudbury'', a television pilot written by Becky Hartman Edwards and directed by Bryan Spicer starring Kim Delaney in the role played by Bullock in the film and Jeri Ryan in the role played by Kidman. The series, named for the

Sudbury, Massachusetts Sudbury is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 18,934. The town, located in Greater Boston's MetroWest region, has a rich colonial history. History Incorporated in 1639, the b ...

location of the novel and film, was not picked up. In 2010, Warner Bros. and

ABC Family The American cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and six different name changes) during its h ...

attempted to develop a prequel television series.

References

External links

* * * * {{Akiva Goldsman 1998 films 1998 comedy-drama films 1998 fantasy films 1998 romantic comedy films 1998 romantic drama films 1990s English-language films 1990s fantasy comedy-drama films 1990s romantic comedy-drama films 1990s romantic fantasy films American fantasy comedy-drama films American romantic comedy-drama films American romantic fantasy films Films about curses Films about sisters Films about witchcraft Films based on American novels Films based on fantasy novels Films based on romance novels Films directed by Griffin Dunne Films produced by Denise Di Novi Films scored by Alan Silvestri Films set in Massachusetts Films shot in Washington (state) Films with screenplays by Akiva Goldsman Films with screenplays by Robin Swicord Village Roadshow Pictures films Warner Bros. films 1990s American films