7 Biggest Changes Practical Magic Makes To The Book

The Practical Magic movie has become a cult classic, but some viewers might not know that it’s based on a book and made significant changes to the overall story. Alice Hoffman wrote Practical Magic, which was published in 1995, and the film adaptation came out just three years later, in 1998. Starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as Sally and Gillian, the twin sisters who serve as the protagonists of both versions, the movie didn’t receive critical acclaim when it came out but has grown in the estimation of many people over time.

What the next movie will be about is up for debate, but it will likely be closer in tone to the movie rather than the book, which took a darker and more mysterious tone overall.

Due to the increase in popularity of the film in recent years, Kidman and Bullock will return for Practical Magic 2. While waiting for the next installment of their story, looking back on the original text might give insight into what’s to come. However, some of the most memorable scenes in Practical Magic weren’t in the book and were invented for the screen. What the next movie will be about is up for debate, but it will likely be closer in tone to the movie rather than the book, which took a darker and more mysterious tone overall.

The closeness between Sally and Gillian is an essential element in the movie, but it’s not something that’s cemented in the novel until the end. In the movie, Gillian is there for Sally after her husband dies, and the two make a pact before Gillian runs away that they’ll always be there for each other. Conversely, the pair are essentially estranged for almost twenty years, and Gillian only turns to Sally when she’s in trouble. A dramatic thrust in the book’s story is the repair of their relationship and the re-establishment of lost trust.

Their closeness is built slowly over time as Sally puts her family at risk for Gillian, and Gillian attempts to right her wrongs.

Though they get into a few petty fights and arguments in the movie, it’s nothing compared to the anger and resentment they harbor in the book. Their closeness is built slowly over time as Sally puts her family at risk for Gillian, and Gillian attempts to right her wrongs. The chemistry between Bullock and Kidman in the film would have made it difficult to believe that the women didn’t have a deep love for each other. While Sally and Gillian hold love in their hearts in the book, it takes them some time to say it out loud.

Played by Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest, the aunts Frances and Jet provide comedic relief and are a standout of the movie. It would have been a shame if the actresses’ talents were wasted by making their roles as small as they are in the book. It’s only at the beginning when Gillian and Sally live with them, and the end, when the sisters call on the aunts for help, that they impact the story’s direction. While the aunts do take their leave for a time to make Sally and Gillian clean up their mess, they’re much more prominent.

The aunts were such a big part of the Practical Magic movie that Practical Magic 2 needs Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest almost more than Kidmand and Bullock. It’s thanks to the casting choice of Channing and Wiest that the aunts are elevated to the point of being fun and pivotal characters instead of superfluous elements. Though the book needs the aunts for the story to progress, it uses them more as a tool and spends no time developing their characters, even in moments of comedy and lightheartedness.

Part of the reason Practical Magic became so enduring among audiences is because of the aesthetically pleasing visuals and the softer, romantic tone. Though the dramatic shifts in the movie are somewhat jarring, the heart of the project is the cozy fall setting, the big, beautiful house, and the aspirational look and feel of the town. Additionally, lots of positive and fun scenes are included to provide important breaks in the tension. The midnight margaritas sequence is a classic example of what viewers remember best from the movie’s story.

Overall, the movie condenses a good deal of the story to make it a tighter adaptation.

Love also plays an even larger role in the movie, as Sally’s romantic life is essential to the main conflict of the narrative. Additionally, some of the darker and more dangerous scenes are left out, like the threat of violence faced by Sally’s daughters at the hands of local teens. Overall, the movie condenses a good deal of the story to make it a tighter adaptation. If too many of the upsetting parts of the story were included, it would have made it difficult to watch.

Sally’s daughters, Kylie and Antonia, aren’t twins in the Practical Magic movie, but they’re much younger and seemingly closer in age than in the book. In the book, Kylie is in her early teens, and Antonia is in her late teens, allowing the story to explore much more of their development and position itself as a coming-of-age narrative. While the movie simply has the young girls get up to mischief and try to ensure their mom and her love interest, Gary (Aidan Quinn), end up together, the book lets them have fully developed desires and personalities.

One of the biggest issues that come between Sally and Gillian in the book is that Gillian begins to bond with Sally’s daughters, which is stressful for her. Sally doesn’t believe that Gillian is a good influence, and she has had a difficult time connecting to her daughters since her husband died. Additionally, Kylie and Antonia have love interests of their own, and the reader gets to see them become self-assured young women alongside their mother and aunt. At the end of the book, this allows the three generations of sisters to come together in a meaningful way.