IGN.com|AskMen.com|Rotten Tomatoes|GameSpy|FilePlanet|TeamXbox|CheatsCodesGuides|GameStats|Direct2Drive

RottenTomatoes.com

Register | Log In | What is RT?
It's our 10th birthday, so you get presents!
Home Movies DVD Celebrities News Critics Photos & Trailers The Vine Forums
Box Office | In Theaters | Opening | Upcoming | Best Of | Certified Fresh | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
 
MOVIES / ON DVD / CHRYSTAL
Chrystal

Rate This Movie

Write a Review
Share This Movie
Add to List
Buy DVD
Buy Poster

Bookmark and Share

Chrystal (2004)

80%
100%
50%
N/A
N/A
N/A
80 %
Reviews Counted: 20 Fresh: 16  Rotten:4 Average Rating: 7/10

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins

Theatrical Release: Apr 8, 2005 Limited

Synopsis: Set in the back woods and bar rooms of the South, CHRYSTAL not only transports you to this evocative place, but also plugs you into its pulse. Sixteen years after Joe (Billy Bob Thornton) plunged the family car off the road with his beautiful wife Chrystal and their young son inside, Joe... Set in the back woods and bar rooms of the South, CHRYSTAL not only transports you to this evocative place, but also plugs you into its pulse. Sixteen years after Joe (Billy Bob Thornton) plunged the family car off the road with his beautiful wife Chrystal and their young son inside, Joe returns from prison seeking what was lost on that night. The thing Joe needs the most is the hardest to ask for — his own redemption. Writer/director Ray McKinnon co-stars brilliantly as Snake, Joe's nemesis, who is looking to settle an old score. Lisa Blount is breathtaking as Chrystal, trapped in a body racked with pain from the crash, her eyes serving as windows to another time and place in the sultry hills of the South. With vivid images and outstanding performances, McKinnon's unvarnished realism embraces his characters in their fight for emotional survival—creating a world of painfully lyrical beauty, set to an amazing soundtrack which includes The Drive-By Truckers, Jay Farrar, and Tim Eriksen. -- © First Look Media [More]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Lisa Blount, Ray McKinnon, Harry Dean Stanton

Director: Ray McKinnon
Composer: Stephen Trask

DVD Info

Release:

Aug 30, 2005

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region (unknown)
  • Keep Case
  • Full Frame - 1.33

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround

Additional Release Material:

  • Previews

Interactive Features:

  • Scene Access

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
T-Meter Critics
 
 
Top Critics
 
 
RT Community
 
 
My Critics
 
 
My Friends
 
 
DVD
 
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By: Name | Fresh | Rotten | Date | Source
 
 
Ratings Image
3/5

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
09/26/05
Onion AV Club
Ratings Image
3.5/5

A sometimes audacious, occasionally downright brilliant, always watchable work that somehow just misses being wholly successful.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/01/05
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Ratings Image
2.5/4

While some of the low-key atmospherics are effective, and Thornton suffers with exquisite quietude, some important scenes unfortunately are clumsily staged.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/10/05
David Kronke
Los Angeles Daily News
Ratings Image
3/5

Chrystal unravels a bit toward the end as it becomes more fable-like, but the performances make it worthwhile.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/09/05
Kevin Crust
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
N/A

Respectable piece of work is reasonably involving if not compelling.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/27/05
Todd McCarthy
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
3/4

It's meandering and uneven, but much of it is powerfully effective and affecting.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/27/05
Eric Harrison
Houston Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
3.5/4

No slam against the O Brother ,Where Art Thou? soundtrack but Chrystal could give it a run for its money.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/23/05
Jonathan W. Hickman
Entertainment Insiders
Ratings Image
B

Even those impatient viewers who feel like they're watching paint dry will admit that the colors are beautiful.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/23/05
Philip Wuntch
Dallas Morning News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
3/4

Looks and feels authentic in a way only a Southern director is likely to achieve.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/22/05
Lawrence Toppman
Charlotte Observer
Ratings Image
3/4

An affecting melodrama that's deep-fried in Southern heritage right down to its ribs.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/21/05
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing
Ratings Image
3/5

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
04/17/05
Marrit Ingman
Austin Chronicle
Ratings Image
C

Moves at a virtually glacial pace, dramatizing its story less than entombing it...lacks the radiance it obviously aspires to.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/16/05
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion
Ratings Image
3/5

This would have been a better movie if it was just the Chrystal and Joe story... without some of the side bar events that don't advance the story.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/15/05
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com
Ratings Image
N/A

Triple threat writer/actor/director Ray McKinnon renders a strange tale set in the beauty of the Ozarks.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/13/05
Boo Allen
Denton Record Chronicle (TX)
Ratings Image
A-

... a masterful and assured movie about the ways broken people try to mend connections and carry on.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/08/05
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Ratings Image
B+

An oddly beautiful film.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/07/05
Bob Longino
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
3/5

A two-hour film that contains a story that could have been smoothly detailed in thirty minutes.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/16/04
Brad Slager
Film Threat
Ratings Image
N/A

A grand story of redemption, laced with barbecued wit and slopped with intrigue.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/16/04
Duane Byrge
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
3/4

A harrowing and indelible evocation of loss and the fragility of life.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/16/04
Pam Grady
Reel.com
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
See More Topics...

Related Forums

REEL_REVIEWER
CHRYSTAL opens today in the Ozarks and GA, coming soon to a Southern cinema near you?
by: REEL_REVIEWER 6/6/05


REEL_REVIEWER
CHRYSTAL opens today in the Ozarks and GA, coming soon to a Southern cinema near you?
by: REEL_REVIEWER 6/6/05


REEL_REVIEWER
CHRYSTAL opens today in the Ozarks and GA, coming soon to a Southern cinema near you?
by: REEL_REVIEWER 6/6/05


REEL_REVIEWER
CHRYSTAL opens today in the Ozarks and GA, coming soon to a Southern cinema near you?
by: REEL_REVIEWER 6/6/05


soundtrack
by: dakranii 3/28/05
all

News

Critical Consensus: "911" Is A (Mildly Funny) Joke; Count "23" Out
posted by Tim Ryan February 22, 2007
This week at the movies, we've got wacky cops ("Reno 911!: Miami"), numerological tension ("The...


Critical Consensus: 'Tis Not The "Season," "Guardian" Lacks Defenders, And "School" Flunks
posted by Nick Hershey September 28, 2006
This week at the movies, we've got jive talking woodland creatures ("Open Season," with Martin Lawrence...

Around the Network

• Chrystal at Rotten Tomatoes
• Chrystal at AskMen
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | ModCenter | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2008, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.