Un soupçon de magie

Lovely Catherine Bell is perfectly cast as Cassandra Nightingale, a beautiful and mysterious newcomer who opens a shop in the small town of Middleton and has a knack of solving people's problems with relative ease. She quickly makes a good impression on the widowed police chief (Chris Potter) and his kids. Unfortunately, she makes a bad impression on the mayor's wife, a busybody who leads a campaign to have Cassie's shop closed down because she's a witch. The question of whether she really is a witch is never definitively answered. The movie does a clever and cute job of keeping that mystery intact right up until the final (and somewhat odd) slow-mo shot. The cast backing up Catherine Bell is extremely likable and appealing. The Good Witch has a wholesome quality about it but it's never corny or cloying. I especially appreciated the movie's leisurely pace. The score helps, as well. It's a relaxing movie with a little bit of humor, drama, and romance...and a lot of magic.

I'll admit, I was predisposed to like this movie -- Catherine Bell and Chris Potter, two of TV's most telegenic actors, and two of my favorites, in the same feel-good family movie -- what could be better! (The grandfather and granddaughter are particularly well-cast as well.)

Although the script follows a typical stranger-in-town plot, combining mystery, conflict, and redemption, the whole thing is very well executed with nary a misstep. The explanations regarding the title character's background make total sense when revealed, and can even let viewers who don't analyze by thinking ahead enjoy a surprise or two.

If TV movies were all there were, I'd rate this a 10, but in the larger context -- after all, it's not "great art" -- I gave it an 8.

(Note: When I originally wrote this comment, the running time for this movie was not yet listed, so I noted here that, as shown on the Hallmark Channel, it runs for 89 minutes, plus commercials to fill out the two-hour time slot. The running time has since been added where it belongs.)

Addendum: Rewatching this movie two years later, I find it has lost none of its charm, and indeed is even more endearing upon second viewing.

I've seen all the films in the good witch series they are filled with mystery, magic and enchanting romance this role was made for Catherine Bell. She has a unique style of her own that makes the character of Cassie so fresh and original. The chemistry between her and Chris Potter from Kung Fu The Legend Continues is natural, simple not to mention fantastic.

When mysterious newcomer Cassandra Nightingale (Bell) moves into a home once owned by The Grey Lady people in the small town of Middleton are curious and unsure if this new arrival should stay or leave. However she does make few friends and even widowed police chief Jake Russell (Potter) finds her to be enchanting, she helps his two children Brandon (Knight) & Lori (Douglas) with their problems. When she opens a shop called The Bell, Book & Candle the mayor's wife Martha Tinsdale (Disher) believes her to be a witch and starts a campaign to close down the store and enlists the help of other citizens to accomplish this goal.

Jake wants her to stay because of the changes she's made in his kids lives and his, after the Tinsdale boys vandalize her shop their father puts an end to his wife's vendetta against Cassie and she's allowed to stay in Middleton. The final scene has Jake asking her is she really a witch? she simply hugs him and winks possibly implying that it's true.

With a great cast and nice setting The Good Witch is a wonderful and mystical tale of family, romance and acceptance for who one is.

I didn't know about this movie until I noticed the 3d part of it on this site. And I thought that it will be interesting. So, today I watched the first part of the "Good Witch". It is a story of a beautiful woman, who came to live in the Grey House. Everybody around thought that she was a witch, because once she talked with dog, who scared children, and after that the dog has changed a lot. She had friends, but she had enemies. We can see how this woman tried to survive in this small town. It was very well-done, very bright, colorful and kind. A very good story with love and rivalry. I think that you can watch it with your family if you want to rest. The acting was brilliant, the plot is not very difficult to understand. Watch it! You will love it!

Old-fashioned, never-never-land fable about a mysterious woman who comes to a small town to claim an inheritance, specifically, the town's notorious haunted house. She sets up a shop full of potions and gemstones and charms, which does not go down well with the mayor's pompous wife (and tellingly, the only fat woman in the entire cast). This chubby busybody, straight out of a 1940s comedy, is convinced the new arrival is a witch (she does own a black cat and an antique broom) and spends the rest of the film trying to drive her out of town. Meanwhile, the newcomer performs a series of subtle good deeds that help various town folk with problems ranging from sterility to bullies. This Hallmark movie bears more than a passing resemblance to "Bell Book and Candle," and in fact the reputed witch names her New Age-y store Bell Book and Candle. The delectable Catherine Bell plays the mysterious woman, a woman similar to the character played by Kim Novak in "Bell Book and Candle." Since this is a Hallmark TV movie, Bell has to rein in her incredible sensuality, but she's still quite a dish even while playing more of a Mary Poppins character. I got a kick out of the cover for this one, which shows Bell grasping what appears to be a long, black phallic object, while giving us a knowing smile. The object, if you look hard enough, is actually a very long broomstick. Familiar TV actor Chris Potter plays the local sheriff, a widower with two small children who is smitten by Bell at first sight. Spending an evening alone on a couch in front of a roaring fireplace, wineglasses in hand, Bell and Potter manage one chaste kiss -- no tussling in the sheets for these two. This is a Hallmark movie, after all. So a chaste kiss is all we get. Entertaining, low-key family movie that was shot in Canada.