By Susan Granger
Practical Magic 2 begins with “I’m sure you’ve heard tell of the Owens sisters,” reminding viewers of the spellbinding 1998 campy fantasy about a Massachusetts family of witches.
Nearly three decades later, widowed Sally Owens (Sandra Bullock) has two grown daughters – Kylie (Joey King) and Antonia (Maisie Williams) – who are totally unaware of their mystical, matrilineal curse: Any Owens woman who falls in love condemns that person to an early death.
Problem is: as soon as Kylie declares her love for Gideon (Xolo Mariduefia), there’s the chirping of a deathwatch beetle – as Gideon is hit by a car, critically injured and left comatose in a Boston hospital.
When heartsick Kylie discovers the mysterious Book of the Raven and learns the truth about the tortured legacy that permeates her bloodline, she takes off for the Owens’ ancestral home in England, determined to break the ancient curse once and for all.
That propels panicked Sally, who has consciously repressed her supernatural gifts for years, to jet off in pursuit, accompanied by her devoted, younger sister Gillian (Nicole Kidman) about whom we know very little – except that she’s exuberant, giggles impishly, enjoys pranks and drinking ‘midnight margaritas’ – declaring, “A life without magic is no life at all.”
Oozing nostalgia while hovering around the periphery are their two eccentric aunts (Stockard Channing, Dianne Wiest) who prefer downing tequila shots, wisely advising their nieces to “Live a little. Live a lot!”
Predictably plot-heavy, adapted from Alice Hoffman’s series of novels by Akiva Goldsman, Georgia Pritchett and Kelly Marcel, it temporarily jettisons the ubiquitous female sisterhood theme when Sally becomes romantically entangled with charming British ‘Dark Arts’ Professor Ian Wright (Lee Pace) in London.
Director Susanne Bier relishes extreme close-ups that convey a ‘politically incorrect’ observation: Neither 62-year-old Bullock nor 59-year-old Kidman has a visible facial line. Not even one! Obviously due to aesthetic maintenance (cosmetic surgery, Botox, fillers and/or skin-tightening) or sheer sorcery, their ageless appearance is disconcerting, distracting from any shred of authenticity.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, Practical Magic 2 is a disenchanting, sweet if sappy 6, playing in theaters.
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Susan Granger
Westport resident Susan Granger grew up in Hollywood, studied journalism with Pierre Salinger at Mills College and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in Journalism. In addition to writing for newspapers and magazines, she has appeared on radio and television as an anchorwoman and movie critic for many years. Read all her reviews at susangranger.com.
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