Based on Alice Hoffman's fanciful novel and directed with go-for-broke prettiness by Griffin Dunne, Practical Magic is nothing but a guilty pleasure.Read Full Review »
70
Salon.com: Laura Miller
Like the rest of this new breed of witch story, it's about sisterhood instead of the supreme allure of housewifery, but like all too many witch movies (old and new), it's really just a self-congratulatory paean to banality and shrunken horizons.Read Full Review »
63
ReelViews: James Berardinelli
Unfortunately, like far too many films, this one gives up the ghost during the last fifteen minutes, saddling an otherwise-enjoyable film with a dumb ending.Read Full Review »
50
Washington Post: Eve Zibart
It's not that the movie isn't fun in spots; it's just a TV-ready mix of camp and curdle.Read Full Review »
50
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: Roger Ebert
The movie doesn't seem sure what tone to adopt, veering uncertainly from horror to laughs to romance.Read Full Review »
50
LOS ANGELES TIMES: Jack Mathews
It just doesn't add up to anything -- or break down -- to anything special. For good or bad, there's hardly a memorable scene in it.Read Full Review »
40
Village Voice: Dennis Lim
The title is, to say the least, an understatement. Witchcraft has rarely looked more prosaic and less sexy than it does in Griffin Dunne's Practical Magic.Read Full Review »
25
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Owen Gleiberman
A witch comedy so slapdash, plodding, and muddled it seems to have had a hex put on it.Read Full Review »
20
Washington Post: Rita Kempley
Director Griffin Dunne lacks a clear vision, torn between blithe spirits and brimstone, between madcap and macabre. But then what does it matter when there's so little magic on screen anyhow? That is unless you count making audiences disappear.Read Full Review »
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