Dunham16
One has to admire the stellar cast starting with Nicole Kidman, Sandra Bullock, Aidan Quinn, Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing. One has to admire the enticing photography and editing. What seems to be missing in the blend of comedy and supernatural horror is a theme. Each scene is memorable yet it seems neither a classic screwball nor a classic romantic comedy. I acquired this DVD and played it once after which I decided not to place it in my permanent collection.
Filipe Neto
This comic movie revolves around the loves of Sally and Gillian, two young witches who are raised by their aunts on an isolated island. They are unhappy in love due to a cruel curse. The film is supposed to be a romantic comedy with a supernatural background, but the plot cuts off almost every developmental path in romance, which turns out to be very fragile. In a romantic comedy, the plot must privilege the development of a love story strong enough to support the plot... but that never happens here. The two female characters want it, but neither does magic make the male characters rise to the challenge. They always seem totally secondary in all plot. Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman were both very well and gave the two witches, the main characters of the film, tremendous strength and personality. They were well supported by Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest, who played the two aunts. The problem is the boys: Goran Visnjic and Aidan Quinn have never been well in the film, perhaps because the script did not help the actors' work at all. It's too bad.
smatysia
It's hard to put my finger on exactly what went wrong with this movie. Many critics said things like "it doesn't know what it wants to be" or "it is mixing genres". I don't really see anything wrong with mixing genres. It can make a film more original and less formulaic. It just seemed that most of the cast just lacked chemistry with one another. This is odd because these are very talented actors. Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock just didn't ring true in their roles as sisters. Neither did Aiden Quinn or Goran Visnjic. The real chemistry was with the older sisters, the crazy aunts, played very well by Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest. In spite of some good stuff, it did not coalesce into a good movie.
denis888
I've read quite a lot of negative commentaries on this lovable romantic comedy. Come on, guys, did you lose your sense of humor and your sense of wonder somewhere else? I have never read Alice Hoffman's novel, upon which this movie was made, but I liked this movie a lot. This is fresh, upbeat, very sweet work, and it is very humorous, quick, very romantic in a true sense, and never drags. The scenery is pretty beautiful, and hey, the house is a real wonder here, you just feel like wishing you'd be living there! The script is nothing very difficult to grasp and this is the very mixture of various genres that makes this movie so endearing and ultimately watchable. I enjoyed the excellent performances of Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman - they did a very good job here, and they never forgot to be funny and even clumsy when necessary. Great and refreshing soundtrack made the watch even more exctiting and cool. There are several unanswered questions within the plot, but maybe the novel answered them, and I was just a bit perplexed. But this is a minor misdemeanor, in general, this is a very good Sunday night watch!
AD
