Movies
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
Best / Worst of the Decade
Wide Releases
Now In Theaters
49
2012
41
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
84
Avatar![]()
69
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
53
Blind Side
53
Book of Eli, The
55
Christmas Carol, A
57
Daybreakers
43
Dear John
27
Did You Hear About the Morgans?
55
Edge of Darkness
45
Extraordinary Measures
83
Fantastic Mr. Fox![]()
42
From Paris with Love
65
Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, The
74
Invictus
57
It's Complicated
34
Law Abiding Citizen
33
Leap Year
33
Legion
42
Lovely Bones, The
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
34
Ninja Assassin
19
Old Dogs
xx
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief
39
Planet 51
79
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
73
Princess & the Frog, The
64
Road, The
57
Sherlock Holmes
27
Spy Next Door, The
36
Tooth Fairy
44
Twilight Saga: New Moon, The
83
Up in the Air![]()
xx
Valentine's Day
25
When in Rome
71
Where the Wild Things Are
xx
WolfMan, The
63
Youth in Revolt
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Limited Releases
Now In Theaters
46
44 Inch Chest
83
Ajami![]()
73
Amreeka
xx
Barefoot to Timbuktu
19
Bitch Slap
24
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
76
Broken Embraces
64
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
84
Cove, The![]()
84
Crazy Heart![]()
21
Crazy on the Outside
48
Creation
xx
Daddy Long Legs
81
Damned United, The![]()
68
Departures
62
District 13: Ultimatum
85
Education, An![]()
71
Eyes Wide Open
24
Falling Awake
81
Fish Tank![]()
56
For My Father
xx
From Mexico with Love
43
Frozen
68
Girl on the Train, The
52
Killing Kasztner
74
Last Station, The
43
Little Traitor, The
51
Loss of a Teardrop Diamond, The
73
Me and Orson Welles
76
Messenger, The
57
Missing Person, The
67
Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
xx
My Name is Khan
49
Nine
63
North Face
xx
October Country
67
Off and Running
52
Paranoids, The
49
Pop Star on Ice
49
Private Lives of Pippa Lee, The
xx
Promised Lands (Re-release)
69
Red Riding Trilogy, The
29
Saint John of Las Vegas
69
September Issue, The
36
Serious Moonlight
63
Shinjuku Incident, The
77
Single Man, A
xx
Still Bill
76
Terribly Happy
74
That Evening Sun
19
To Save a Life
68
Town Called Panic, A
59
Until the Light Takes Us
xx
Videocracy
65
Waiting for Armageddon
82
White Ribbon![]()
43
Women in Trouble
xx
Word is Out
64
Young Victoria, The
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Chrystal

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 8 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 11 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by: Ray McKinnon
Directed by: Ray McKinnon
Release Date:
Theatrical: June 10, 2005
DVD: August 30, 2005
Running Time: 106 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for sexuality, nudity, drug content, violence and language
Starring Billy Bob Thornton, Lisa Blount, Ray McKinnon, Harry J. Lennix, Walton Goggins, Grace Zabriskie, Johnny Galecki, and Colin Fickes
Set in the Ozark mountains, Chrystak combines red-dirt realism with the fabulist Southern literary tradition – part Flannery O'Connor, part Johnny Cash – to tell a wild and haunting tale of the power of true love. (First Look)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The Hollywood Reporter Duane Byrge
A grand story of redemption, laced with barbecued wit and slopped with intrigue, Chrystal is a high heaping of brilliant storytelling.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
One of those movies that sticks to your mind like a briar to wool slacks. It has no revelations, no high drama, no heartbreaking tragedy. What it does have is bone-deep honesty, and that's enough for once.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust
Chrystal unravels a bit toward the end as it becomes more fable-like, but the performances make it worthwhile.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
Respectable piece of work is reasonably involving if not compelling.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman
Even at its most contrived, the filmmakers believe in this project so passionately that its atmosphere seems absolutely real.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Scott Foundas
McKinnon's direction is nothing if not atmospheric -- his best scenes unfold with a pungent languor that suggests the power of the backwoods to turn hours into days and days into years. If only the sum total were a movie more "In the Bedroom" than it is everything-but-the-kitchen-sink.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray
If the people in Chrystal are intended to be authentic, why do none of them look like they've ever seen the inside of a Wal-Mart?
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.3 (out of 10) based on 11 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Greg T. gave it a5:
Intense but dour. The sets alone could lead you to suicide. Everyone is redeemed but with a load of effort.
Jim M. gave it a3:
Painful to sit through. Some scenes over-theatrical with much scenery chewing. Dialogue a hoot. Plot contrived with stock characters. Faulkner meets Al Capp.
Kitten gave it a3:
Although beautifully pkotographed, I was very disappointed. The potential to make this a GREAT film was there, but it fell far shot. I would have liked to have seen this movie with a little less implied sex and stereotypical characters, and a lot more time spent giving us a real look into the hearts and minds of the characters. BRAVO to Grace Z...the best actor in the entire piece.
Albert I. gave it a10:
Great acting and beautiful music. A must see.
Haden gave it a9:
I thought this movie was great - havent been this pulled into to a story, setting, and culture thing in some time - not perfect but unique and captious and raw.
Sebastian L. gave it a2:
Unfortunately this movie suffers from a schizofrenic story line. The main plot line has enough tragic drama to support the film and if you were to fast-fwd all of the insipid sub-plots you would have a pretty good film. My Question for Ray McKinnon who wrote and directed this movie is this... Will you guys ever stop with the idiotic redneck bad guys named 'Snake?' Thornton and Blount give good performances but it's not enough.
