Chrystal

Kind of strange movie. About a man who spends twenty years in prison and comes home hoping for some sort of redemption. Well, redemption is hard to find if you are responsible for your wife getting a broken neck and your son losing his life. Plenty of back country Arkansas atmosphere. Some menacing characters lurking about,one is appropriately known as "Snake."The acting is powerful with Billy Bob Thornton playing the seeker of redemption and Lisa Blount the supplicant's long-suffering wife. My big test for a movie is simply: Does the movie hold interest until the credits roll?The answer is affirmative.

and especially by Blount and Thorton. The movie begins with an intriguing spareness, an economy of dialogue that reminded me a bit of Cormac McCarthy. Joe (Thornton) seems to be an enigma. Half-way through, however, the plot begins to remind me of how I feel having gone into the next room to look for something and discovering that I have forgotten what that something is. The plot keeps looking for new avenues, some of which are dead ends, and none of which ends up satisfying the kinds of questions the first half poses. This is all the stranger because Richard Russo, usually a master of plot, wrote the script. Well worth watching, however.

If you want to smile and enjoy the music in this movie, it will be difficult. The main characters are filled with sadness and regret. Billy Bob and his wife have never recovered from a terrible auto accident that crippled her, killed their child and sent him to prison for many years. Although he returns home with the hope of reconnecting with his wife and his former life, it is not to be. Some wounds never heal no matter how much you want them to. In addition he has some terrible neighbors that are up to no good and don't want him around. The local cop is one spot of light and hope but his character has to fight hard to relieve the over whelming darkness of the film. the end of the movie gives some hope that there is a better tomorrow waiting for some of the characters, but it's a tough slog getting to that point.

Chrystal is a simple country woman living in the Deep South with crippling scars after the loss of her baby due to an accident caused by her husband as he attempted to elude the police. After years in prison the husband, Joe, returns to the home he and his wife shared and what now looks like an abandoned old home in the middle of the Ozarks. Chrystal appears emotionally vacant when he returns from years of prison and takes residency at the home they had shared. The story takes sometime to unwind and tell itself but it is interesting as the film interweaves folksongs inspired by the region. There are some disturbing and torrid scenes. A dark sad story that is intense and interesting although quite slow at times. The acting and story telling is superb...definitely worth watching!

The best part of Chrystal is the folk music. The story takes way too long to develop. The writing, while carefully crafted, lacks cogency and the acting is uninspired (except a surprisingly believable Colin Fickes). Further, for a story that could still, despite all this, come off as sweet and uplifting at the end, there is enough absolutely unnecessary graphic sex and gruesome violence to make you feel more disgusted than inspired at the end. (I know some people will call me a prude and not agree with this. Surely, the fact that Chrystal slept around was core to her character. But I don't think we need to see the act to get the point. And I also wonder why this particular movie has the most excruciating fight scene of any in my memory.)

It's difficult to find good movies on Amazon. I had to search "academy award winners" where I found The Accountant and thus searched the director to find Chrystal. I am from the south, as are many of the cast and director, so a lot of this story rings true-on poetic and in literal terms. If you are not an art house type of viewer, skip it and go to Amazon's basic algorithm for the people.

Billy Bob Thornton in a less known role…finding redemption for a dark moment that destroys life, love, and hope…serene, and subtle…a daring film with superb acting, surrounded by the melancholy Ozarks…worth a watch!

Very tough call, I had a scowl on my face thru the entire movie. I think you will either like this movie or hate it. So much lack of emotion in the performances but I'm guessing that's the way the director wanted it. so many scenes that looked put in. I confess to not knowing what life in the Ozarks is like but this seems really horrifying. The story is Billy bob Thornton and his wife Lisa Blount are driving, they crash and their baby dies. he goes to prison for 20 years and gets out and goes home, no one wants him there but he stays on the porch. he gets into a fight with the local drug dealer and his best friend? many young men had sex with the wife while he was in prison. As I said a lot of things pieced together. Self-punishment seems to be the order of the day. SPOILER...loved the dog..guess what!

I first saw this film by accident, so to speak, but knew by the closing credits that I had to add it to my private collection! My friends who live in the South tell me that some rural areas are really as the film depicts. Billy Bob Thornton says it is his favorite movie and states that as his reason. It is a quiet film that reveals its soul and makes you think about it for days...