When you hear the word 'spell', what do you think of? The Wicked Witch from the Wizard of Oz? I’ll bet a majority of you thought of the three sisters and their Gram from Charmed.

Well, Hocus Pocus does have sisters, and it does have an elderly woman. But that is where the similarities end.

Amanda Santorelli is what most would call Plain Jane. At least, she dresses that way at work. Underneath her long, loose skirts and high-buttoned shirts, she's got a body that won't quit--which is exactly why she hides it at work. She had her heart broken by a guy who was only interested in her undies; she vowed that no one would do that to her again, and so far, she's been able to keep that vow.

But things change as we grow from our naive college selves into the adults our parents hoped we'd be. And, more often than any of us really admit to, we turn into the people we hardly wanted to be: Responsible, levelheaded, and completely miserable. For all her words of being fine, and how the things she wants aren't what she needs, Amanda wants the ultimate fantasy: her sexy boss.

One night, her darling Aunt Lilly decides to help Amanda get over her inhibitions--with devastating results. Amanda now blurts out the first thing that comes to mind, and what's worse is, she can't outwit the spell. It will run its course: every embarrassing, red-faced second of it.

Mark Abott long ago learned the pain of mixing business with pleasure: a co-worker became his lover, and, when he wanted to take the next step, she dumped him for a higher-up who could further her career. When his secretary, the quiet Amanda, starts speaking up and busting out of her clothes, he has a hard time remembering why it was he swore off co-workers in the first place.

Hollywood has made the Studly Boss and his Sexy Secretary plot a given. Movies have long been raking in money by pandering to it. When I read the blurb for Hocus Pocus, I thought the same thing. But I gave it a shot, and I'm glad I did. While Amanda is attracted to her boss, and has a few fantasies about him, she's not about to throw her manila folders in his face and throw him down on his desk.

But that doesn't mean she won't blurt out the idea to him.

Reviewed By Marissa
© January 2007