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Practical Magic

When the October 1998 issue of Victoria magazine arrived in my mailbox, I read an article by Claire Witcomb called, "Casting A Decorative Spell." It was about turning Alice Hoffman's novel, "Practical Magic" into a film. It takes you into the fascinating process of how the movie's atmosphere, set design, and furnishings inside the Victorian house, as well as the house itself are created.

With that in mind, Practical Magic is indeed a gorgeous looking film. The house is a true Victorian style; the gardens are whimsical as they overlook the ocean; and the town is quaint and simplistic. It is truly a magical place!

Set against this stunning backdrop, a bloodline of magic weaves its spells and a dreaded curse into the lives of two very different sisters, whose bond is strengthened with love and a spiritual connection they share towards each other.

The curse strickens any female in the Owens family -- whoever falls in love, she will unfortunately be doomed to lose the man in death when the clicking of the beetle is heard.

For Sally (Sandra Bullock) and Gillian (Nicole Kidman), this was the fate bestowed on their father when the beetle was heard one summer day, while vacationing on the beach. The girls didn't know the full pain experienced by their mother from losing her husband, and she died of a broken heart.

Sally and Gillian are taken in by their Aunts Frances (Stockard Channing) and Jet (Dianne Wiest). Two wonderfully feisty, delightful hoots who speak their minds and are not afraid of stirring up commotion in the town. They also love Sally and Gillian dearly and would do anything to make sure they are loved and happy.

Fearing a broken heart herself one day, Sally as a child casts a love spell she believes could never come true, thus leaving her free and safe from falling in love and being hurt.

Gillian, on the other hand, can not wait to find love. As a child, Gillian was always curious about her Aunts' house and the magic that went along with it.

Sally and Gillian are very different in their approach to life. Sally wants a typical "normal life" without the magic, the feeling of being feared and considered an outcast by the town's people. Sally is senstive, nurturing, reliable, and lonely. She wants a love to fill her world with.

By stark contrast, Gillian is outrageous, free, adventurous, and open to all possibilities of love.

Gillian takes off one night with one of her many disposable boyfriends, leaving Sally to fend for herself without any love in sight...or is there?

The aunts have cast a love spell on Sally, and soon she has found love with Michael (Mark Feuerstein), a local grocer. Sally has finally found a "normal life" and is now accepted by the town. Michael and Sally have two children, Kylie (Evan Rachel Wood) and Antonia (Alexandra Artrip).

Gillian is soaking up the sun and partying till dawn with her new boyfriend Jimmy (Goran Visnjic), who is a dark, strange, and obsessively dangerous man.

Both sisters think they are living the ideal life and have defeated the Owens family curse...well, not exactly!

Early in the morning, Sally hears the clicking of the bettle. Sally tries with all her might to find the bettle and stop it from putting the curse on her husband. Fate would not be kind, and Michael is killed.

Sally and her children move back into the aunts' house, where Sally lays down some strict ground rules about her children not taking part in any magical happenings in the home.

Feeling the distress and unstableness of her sisters's loss, Gillian leaves her overbearing boyfriend and comes home to help take care of her family.

Time passes, and Sally moves on with her life, working on getting the botanical shop open she and Michael were starting before he was killed.

Gillian, on the other hand, has gotten in too deep with Jimmy and is now being abused by him.

Sally tries to rescue Gillian, but Jimmy is waiting in the back seat, and he is not looking too happy. Jimmy is wildly drunk and in a violent mood.

Gillian tells Sally the Belladonna is in her purse, and Sally puts the potion in the bottle Jimmy is drinking from with the anticipation of making Jimmy pass out from it. Jimmy becomes even more violent and tries to strangle Gillian in the back seat. Sally punches Jimmy to get him off of Gillian. Jimmy passes out, or so they think. They are wrong: Jimmy is dead!

Frightened by what they have done, Sally and Gillian bring Jimmy back to the Aunts (who have gone on an outing with the children) and try to bring him back from the dead.

Jimmy is brought back to life and is even more of a monster than before. He immediately tries to kill Gillian, and Sally hits him over the head with a frying pan, and Jimmy is killed...again! The sisters then bury Jimmy in the yard.

From then on, Sally and Gillian have a lot of explaining to do and find themselves geting into some sticky (and ghostly) situations, especially when Detective Gary (Aidan Quinn) comes to town to investigate the disappearance of Jimmy.

Sally finds herself falling for Gary and fighting with her own demons to tell him the truth about what happened to Jimmy.

Jimmy, although "technically" dead, is coming back from the grave for revenge. His evil spirit is haunting the grounds of the aunts' house. Even more serious than that, Jimmy is getting under Gillian's skin literally by taking possession of Gillian's body.

Sally and the Aunts need to rid the evil spirit of Jimmy by casting a circle over Gillian. Only one way that can happen: Sally calls on the town's folk for help, the same people who have teased, harassed and been scared of the Owens family for centuries.

Will Sally be able to free Gillian from the deadly hold of Jimmy's ghost and put a rest to the disappearance case Gary is working on?

Can Sally open her heart and find a pure love with Gary, or will her fear of the curse stop her from finding out if he is her life's wish?

I recommend Practical Magic because it above anything else is about love, family and the magic that is around all of us.

Written by: Lynda Dale MacLean

Reviewers Rating: 8
Reader's Rating: 9.56
Reader's Votes: 18

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