Practical Magic
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: October 16, 1998 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
47
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
10
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
L.A. WeeklyHazel-Dawn Dumpert
Dunne is committed, thank good-ness, unapologetic for even the most fluttery sentiment or spookiest chill, enjoying the swellness of the very idea almost as much as any fanciful girl. Read full review
80
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
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
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Lively acting, eye-catching cinematography, and funny dialogue lift this fantasy a notch above the average until love-story cliches and horror-movie shocks bog it down. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
Though its startling shifts in tone sometimes seem unmotivated, this dark yet syrupy 1998 romance has an adolescent charm. Read full review
70
SalonLaura 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
ReelViewsJames 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
60
EmpireAngie Errigo
It tootles along being cute and fluffy like a twentysomethings' version of Sabrina The Teenage Witch, but to further its notions of sisterhood and the power of women, it also takes a spin through Thelma And Louise territory, then revisits The Exorcist to up the supernatural content. It's enough to make your head spin. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleRussell Smith
It's just a little too ironic (to quote Okay Pop Singer Alanis Morrisette) that a movie with the word "magic" in its title should be such a perfect example of the difference between competence and inspiration. Read full review
50
Washington PostEve 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-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie doesn't seem sure what tone to adopt, veering uncertainly from horror to laughs to romance. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
It's all swell, though after two hours of nonstop yin energy, one does begin to wish that someone like Bruce Willis might show up in a sweaty T-shirt, scratching himself. Read full review
50
San Francisco ExaminerEdvins Beitiks
The cast and crew and screenwriters seem to have had some fun with it, and the audience, coming along for the ride, has some fun with it, too. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesJack 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
The New YorkerSarah Kerr
Griffin Dunne's plodding adaptation of Alice Hoffman's novel can't decide whether it's a horror show, a cute comedy, or a soap opera. Read full review
40
Village VoiceDennis 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
40
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Its flat whimsy, VH1-ready musical montage sequences, and less-than-magic magic realism will probably not be enough to hold the attention of all but the most undiscriminating fans of witches and Stockard Channing. Read full review
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
With the performers given zilch to perform, the result is a picture that's all chassis and no engine, or, in the parlance of the genre, a bunch of pointy hats in search of a transporting broomstick. Read full review
30
Dallas ObserverBill Gallo
As witch movies go -- even lighthearted, supposedly comic witch movies -- Practical Magic is conspicuously lacking in supernatural phenomena. Read full review
30
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
You can see the outline of an interesting movie beneath the cutesy-pie characterizations and heavy-handed mockery of small-town small-mindedness, but any chance it might have had is short-circuited by director Griffin Dunne's overwhelming inability to establish a consistent tone for the admittedly off-kilter material. Read full review
30
VarietyEmanuel Levy
Part comedy, part family drama, part romance, part special-effects mystery-adventure, and not entirely satisfying on any of these levels, this hodgepodge suffers from the conflicting sensibilities of its three credited scripters: Robin Swicord, who has done good work before, Akiva Goldsman, who has not, and Adam Brooks. Read full review
25
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
A witch comedy so slapdash, plodding, and muddled it seems to have had a hex put on it. Read full review
20
Washington PostRita 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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