Triple threat writer/actor/director Ray McKinnon renders a strange tale set in the beauty of the Ozarks.
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04/13/05
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Chrystal (2004)
80
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:20
Fresh:16
Rotten:4
Average Rating:7/10
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)... [More]
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Lisa Blount, Ray McKinnon, Harry Dean Stanton
Director: Ray McKinnon
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Reviews for Chrystal
An affecting melodrama that's deep-fried in Southern heritage right down to its ribs.
04/21/05
A grand story of redemption, laced with barbecued wit and slopped with intrigue.
03/16/04
Top CriticChrystal unravels a bit toward the end as it becomes more fable-like, but the performances make it worthwhile.
06/09/05
Top CriticThis 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.
04/15/05
A harrowing and indelible evocation of loss and the fragility of life.
03/16/04
A sometimes audacious, occasionally downright brilliant, always watchable work that somehow just misses being wholly successful.
09/01/05
It's meandering and uneven, but much of it is powerfully effective and affecting.
05/27/05
Top CriticNo slam against the O Brother ,Where Art Thou? soundtrack but Chrystal could give it a run for its money.
04/23/05
While some of the low-key atmospherics are effective, and Thornton suffers with exquisite quietude, some important scenes unfortunately are clumsily staged.
06/10/05
An oddly beautiful film.
04/07/05
Top Critic... a masterful and assured movie about the ways broken people try to mend connections and carry on.
04/08/05
Respectable piece of work is reasonably involving if not compelling.
05/27/05
Top CriticIf the as well-performed, better directed star-filled Levity is worth only 50 screens in its widest release, you'd have to think that Chrystal is headed for similar territory.
03/03/04
A two-hour film that contains a story that could have been smoothly detailed in thirty minutes.
03/16/04
Moves at a virtually glacial pace, dramatizing its story less than entombing it...lacks the radiance it obviously aspires to.
04/16/05
Looks and feels authentic in a way only a Southern director is likely to achieve.
04/22/05
Even those impatient viewers who feel like they're watching paint dry will admit that the colors are beautiful.
04/23/05
Top CriticClick to read the article
04/17/05
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12/06/05
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