Have you ever gone to see a movie, and you loved 72% of it, but absolutely hated 28% of it?
That for me is “Practical Magic 2”.
As I sat down in my seat in the popcorn scented theater, I felt a sudden rush of warmth. I went to recline my chair, just enough to lift my legs up, after a long day at work, so I could enjoy a nice relaxing movie watching experience, and my chair didn’t budge.
Now, anyone who has been to a modern theater understands that when your chair doesn’t budge, it’s likely not plugged in…. I stood up, and turned around to address the issue and I noticed I was the only male in the entire room. To my left, right, and front were rows of women. Middle aged, early 20’s, some in their later years. All wearing flowers in their hair, or holding margarita glasses (empty of course), or.. wearing witches hats. Every single one of them with a smile on their face, and a sparkle in their eyes.
Ah, there was the warmth I was feeling.
I got the chair fixed, and settled down to watch “Practical Magic 2″….and thus began the 28%.
I often talk about movies where the music plays a tertiary character in the story, and in this film, the music in the first third was Will Ferrell drunk screaming “Cannonball”. It was loud, ill placed, and just didn’t fit the mood or storyline. Almost like the writers Akiva Goldsmith, Georgia Pritchett, or Kelly Marcel forgot they were penning a movie, and instead wrote a music video.
Then I remembered…the movie was directed by Danish filmmaker, Susanne Bier. Susanne is known for such musical masterpieces as “Once in a Lifetime (Livet är en schlager)”, the primarily music focused dramedy about a Eurovision obsession, and the Pierce Brosnan vehicle “Love is All You Need” which was then adapted for musical theater. It all made sense.
It just didn’t fit the movie at that moment.
Not only was the first third annoyingly overrun with poor music choices, the chemistry between Kylie Owens (Joey King), and her clearly lovelorn boyfriend, Gideon (Xolo Mariduena) was just non-existent. Individually, both performers possess immense talent among today’s rising stars—Joey already boasting an impressive run across streaming hits, while Xolo prepares to step back into his signature role as Blue Beetle. Together, on screen, it was just missing. The real chemistry, which kept me involved for the first third, was between Kylie and her sister Antonia, played by an under-utilized Maisie Williams. The sisterhood bond the two had been asked to portray was strong, and clear, despite the overwhelming musical surge. This was felt throughout the film, and was the first theme that carried across all thirds.
It’s been 28 years since the first movie, and Aunt Jet (played with a silent melancholy by Dianne West), is hearing the chirp of the death beetle. The time has come, but in the Owens’ household, this is a time for celebration. Remembrance of life.
And this is when the music starts to match the story. Brandi Carlisle covered Billy Joel’s “And So It Goes”, Fleetwood Mac “Landslide”, and in a soothing take, Olivia Rodrigo singing “The Cure”, all landing appropriately for the remainder of the movie.
Those of you who have put the lime in the coconut, and mixed it all up, know well that the Owens women are cursed. They shall never love a man, for if they do, that man is doomed to a dark fate of death. After the death of Sally Owens’ husband Gary, she vowed to remove magic from her life, and to guard her daughters from it, so they would never know the pain of a love lost, casting a spell over her daughters so they would forget the magic that had existed in their lives.
There is truly nothing quite like an overly protective mother attempting to shield her children, only to end up throwing a massive wrench into their burgeoning adulthood.
Kylie and Gideon reveal their relationship to Sally, when Gideon shows up for Jet’s celebration of life, and immediately, the tone shifts. That night, in the afterglow of passion, Kylie, who had been unknowingly avoiding saying those three little words, let it slip… and the curse, was once again, set into motion, resulting in a flower and coffee trip in the early morning for Gideon, and an ambulance ride to the hospital, in a coma, after being struck by a vehicle.
That’s the 28% doing what it does best, undercutting itself. A story about generational curses and the cost of love needed the audience to feel something for Kylie and Gideon before it ripped him away. Instead we got a comatose boyfriend and a moment that should have landed like a gut punch but landed more like a plot mechanism, because King and Mariduena never built the foundation for us to mourn what was happening.
But that 72% was still standing right next to it. Because while Gideon lay in that hospital bed, the movie found its real engine, Sally forced to watch her daughter face the exact curse she spent 28 years trying to outrun. That’s not a romance plot. That’s a mother and daughter plot wearing a romance plot’s clothes, and it’s the one the film actually earned.
The atomic reaction caused by the sisterly chemistry between Sally and Gillian (Nicole Kidman) from “Practical Magic” seemed to be missing, until this very moment. To break the Owens family curse and potentially revive Gideon, a resurgence of spellcraft becomes essential, leading to the discovery of an ancient tome that had been stolen from a hidden location in the town library. This small book holds the key to shattering their multi-generational affliction, offering the lineage of women a chance at enduring romance beyond their undeniable sisterly devotion.
For the rest of the movie, you struggle to forget just how charismatic Sandra Bullock is, and always has been. The same beauty we discovered in “Demolition Man” is still visible behind the years of character in her eyes. You are drawn to her in every single scene, and her subtle chin drops, or a wisp of her raven hair falling across her temple and cheek reminding you are every step just who you are watching on screen. She is hands down the star of this movie, and she has not lost a moment of truth in her character in the 28 years since the first film.
This is where the 72% really takes over.
The guidance of the dark novella takes the Owens family on a twisted search for truth to the UK, where Professor Ian Wright, played smolderingly by Lee Pace (“The Running Man”), joins the foray as the dark magic expert, on their journey of rediscovery, and truth.
While Nicole Kidman’s Gillian is present, and supporting the story throughout, she doesn’t get a moment to shine, though that’s no fault of Kidman’s own considerable shine.
That said, when I tell you that the chemistry between Bullock and Pace carries the weight of the rest of the film, I could stop there, and the review would be complete. It’s not wasted one bit. It’s all story relevant, and provides a tonal carriage for the remainder of the story, with a culmination that even though everyone in the theater saw it coming, you could hear audible gasps when it actually did happen.
As the film reaches its climax, and the tone shifts to ultimate sacrifice, you begin to realize that the Owens’ family story is not truly defined by the curse, but rather by the love and sisterhood that has always been the true strength.
Yes, I, the lone man in a room full of women cheering with tears in their eyes, proudly joined them in this celebration of sisterhood, and in celebration of the 72% of a movie that I truly loved, with everything in me.
“Practical Magic 2”, starring Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Joey King, Maisie Williams, Lee Pace, and Hollywood legends Dianne West, and Stockard Channing is in theaters now.
3 out of 5 stars.
