Overrated

An Exercise In Nonsense

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

I didn't love this sequel as much as the first Good Witch movie but it was still very good. Cassie has to deal with a new challenge that threatens her ownership of Grey House. It still has plenty of intrigue and charm which is nice but I didn't like the antagonist. He was a bit too conceded and selfish for my liking.The relationship between Jake and Cassie continues to blossom and it develops into quite the little love match. Cue awe moment. Overall this film series is sweet and lovely to watch. It has a lot of heart and very strong life values and morales. After watching it you can't help but want to be a better and more intuitive person.

In the initial offering we learned that this mysterious, happy, calm lady is in town to fix up and live in the Grey House, which had fallen into disrepair. This movie is a continuation of that story, with a bit more focus on the "garden." But that is not the root of the mystery.Pretty Catherine Bell is back as Cassandra Nightingale. Her house is all fixed up and her garden is brimming with all kinds of different plants. She has made lots of friends in the small town, but has also decided to take in guests to help meet expenses. Run a sort of Bed and Breakfast service.Also back is Chris Potter as town Sheriff Jake Russell. In the first movie they started to develop a romantic interest in each other, and that continues in this movie.The significant event is the new stranger in town who takes a room at the Grey House then starts to get nosy. He goes into the public records to find out such things as how much taxes Cassandra pays, and we see him sneaking in the house to examine things that are locked up. Sheriff Russell is suspicious and doesn't trust him.While this one didn't hold my interest as well as the initial one did, mainly because the newness had gone, it is an entertaining movie, especially for Catherine Bell.SPOILERS: The stranger eventually gives legal papers to the Sheriff to have Cassandra evicted from Grey House because he claims to be the real descendant of the real owner, a sea captain that the Grey Lady had been tied to. But he was eventually exposed as a fraud and locked up. Cassandra and Jake get engaged.

Perhaps I'm already jaded with respect to this material, but this follow-up to last year's "The Good Witch" didn't seem quite as good as its predecessor.With essentially the same cast as before, except for the loss of some minor characters tied to the original plot, and the addition of two notable characters, one transient and one hopefully permanent (if further sequels are planned), this second in the series finds "good witch" Cassie Nightingale (Catherine Bell) now living in the house of her ancestor, "The Gray Lady," dating the sheriff (Chris Potter), and growing her garden, both to supply her herb shop and to host the town's 200th anniversary garden party.Both films play on the "stranger in town" theme. In the first, it was Cassie; in this sequel it's a man (Rob Stewart) claiming to be a distant relative of Cassie's, and making friends with everybody in town while surreptitiously intending to do her wrong.Meanwhile, Cassie continues to see the best in people, and helps them with their problems using "everyday magic," usually by giving them some object or spice which somehow helps them to find a solution or to come to some personal awareness.On the negative side, the whole proceeding here seems a bit more casual than in the first film. The plot is again trite but comfortable, but the script seems less taut, and the two leads...I don't want to say that they walk through their parts, but their play seems loose compared to the first installment.As noted earlier, Cassie and sheriff Jake are now dating, and this being a family film, there are a dozen or so chaste kisses between them, like ones you'd give your grandma. Several of these kisses come at the beginning, giving the film a seemingly slow start.Some particularly bright spots in the script are close to a half dozen word plays which can be appreciated by lovers of language. If you watch this film, I encourage you to listen for them.Best of all, Grandpa finds love (or at least companionship)! A subplot involving the hopefully permanent addition to the cast that I mentioned earlier, and one of the bits of everyday magic that Cassie performs, this time in the form of matchmaking, is to hook George (Peter MacNeill) up with the local nursery lady (Elizabeth Lennie).Although more than one plot point arose from the very intriguing title, perhaps the most disappointing part for me was that more was not made of it, more of the garden's magical properties, if you will. As I think back, however, it was probably just the right amount of magic for vegetation. Despite any shortcomings real or perceived, this movie nevertheless manages to display some fireworks for those who stick with it!

No sequel can be as fresh or as original as the first. This statement applies to the Good Witch sequel as it does to every other movie. In both movies, I loved Cassies off handed: "go and do this …" and it just changes the person's life. For example: Going to a garden club meeting when you don't know one is happening may cause a grandpa to get the attention of too many eligible women. Another example: Paying attention to such a simple object as a old wood tool that is used to plant seeds can also change a persons life. This example is almost to much to expect from such a simple object, but it makes for a good way to advance the story. Witches Garden has the originals positives and minuses: The made for TV feel is still very much here, but the lightheartedness of the main characters and Cassies insistence on always seeing the good in people even when it is obvious they are up to no good still makes this "a feel good movie" above the rest. I guess my main gripe with the movie series after seeing both, loving the first and liking the second is summed up in one word: Jealously. Cassie is more magickal than any Pagan, Wiccan or Witch could ever hope to be in real life. I know a lot of people in the craft and no one has her kind of intuition, no one. Then again this is just a movie, and as such a fantasy. This movie, like the first, presents a much maligned group in a positive light and that is a rare thing that must be commended.SPOILER ALERT: Why oh why, did Cassie insist on giving Nick Chason the benefit of the doubt even when it was obvious he was up to no good? I guess this is the characters one weak point: Not seeing the bad or selfishness in people. When you are told your whole life how bad/evil you are and that you are going to hell for your beliefs or because of the way you live, it only makes sense to react in a completely opposite way to all of the judgmental people in your life.Again, I would recommend this as a coming out (of the broom closet) movie, although I think the first one would be better since it starts from the beginning and no explanations would be necessary of any of the back story.