Chrystal (2004)
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
DVD Info
Release:
Aug 30, 2005
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
A sometimes audacious, occasionally downright brilliant, always watchable work that somehow just misses being wholly successful.
While some of the low-key atmospherics are effective, and Thornton suffers with exquisite quietude, some important scenes unfortunately are clumsily staged.
Chrystal unravels a bit toward the end as it becomes more fable-like, but the performances make it worthwhile.
Respectable piece of work is reasonably involving if not compelling.
It's meandering and uneven, but much of it is powerfully effective and affecting.
No slam against the O Brother ,Where Art Thou? soundtrack but Chrystal could give it a run for its money.
Even those impatient viewers who feel like they're watching paint dry will admit that the colors are beautiful.
Looks and feels authentic in a way only a Southern director is likely to achieve.
An affecting melodrama that's deep-fried in Southern heritage right down to its ribs.
Moves at a virtually glacial pace, dramatizing its story less than entombing it...lacks the radiance it obviously aspires to.
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.
Triple threat writer/actor/director Ray McKinnon renders a strange tale set in the beauty of the Ozarks.
... a masterful and assured movie about the ways broken people try to mend connections and carry on.
A two-hour film that contains a story that could have been smoothly detailed in thirty minutes.
A grand story of redemption, laced with barbecued wit and slopped with intrigue.
A harrowing and indelible evocation of loss and the fragility of life.
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