Practical Magic 2 has the Owens sisters back, and the biggest talking point isn’t the witchcraft. Sandra Bullock is 62 and Nicole Kidman is 59, yet they walk through the sequel looking nearly identical to their 1998 selves, and the movie never once explains it with a spell. No potion, no curse. Just two stars who apparently don’t experience time the way the rest of us do.
The detail everyone’s fixating on: in the original, Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest played the aunts at just 54 and 50. Younger than Bullock and Kidman are right now. So the“elderly”aunties from 1998 are technically younger than the leading ladies of the sequel, which tells you a lot about how Hollywood frames age. Add in a timeline where Sally’s tween daughters somehow become twentysomethings, and Bullock’s character romancing a 47-year-old Lee Pace, and the film asks audiences to just go along for the ride.
Does it matter? It’s worth celebrating that two women this age are headlining a major studio movie, because that’s still rare. But the catch is that they can only do it by not looking like most people’s idea of 62 or 59. So the real magic in Practical Magic 2 might not be the witches at all.
Would you rather the movie explain the ageless thing with actual witchcraft, or leave it mysterious? Sound off in the comments.
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Local Lawton
Local Lawton is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.