Practical Magic Review

I’ll start with some positive things about Alice Hoffman’s book, because there are some. 

It is true that Practical Magic has all the romance that made the 1997 movie with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman so endearing. The sister relationship is just as complex too. But what about all the spells and spirit possession that freaked me out watching this as an eight-year-old? While the movie focuses more on the murder and subsequent return of Nicole Kidman’s boyfriend, the book is actually more about Sandra Bullock being a mother. 

This proves to be a little tiresome at times, as the daughters are both written as flawless magnetic beauties that follow the Owens woman tradition of stealing all the local male attention. Themes of love and lust are a bit overwrought, and I found myself at times wanting the spunky presence of Stockard Channing as the aunt, who is instead written as a grumpy old recluse. 

Setting aside the discussed witchy Owens family heritage, ditto the volatile weather patterns that prevail adjacent to moments of tension, there isn’t a lot of magic to be found here. The large body of the novel focuses instead on the widowed Sally Owens who struggles to raise two teenage daughters in addition to a damaged younger sister. As a result, Practical Magic reads more like a family drama that could’ve been serialized on Lifetime with comparably successful results. The Aidan Quinn detective character figures in the last quarter, but with how up and down the dramatic momentum is until that point, it’s decidedly too little too late. 

The moving parts that made the film good are swimming within Hoffman’s book. Director Griffin Dunne no doubt saw this and knew how to reconfigure them for his movie. For those who loved his movie, I’d say give this a go. Though only for those who did. 

Good-not-great witch romance fare. 

C-plus.