source: Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus

You talk about the slow pacing, lack of comedy, simplistic story and bad camerawork, but what really makes this movie special is not only the obvious transformation that Cera's character underwent, but also Crystal Fairy's subtle realization that she isn't some kind of special mystical being / fountain of knowledge. Nearing the end of her trip she fails to revive the rabbit, changes her shell-graffiti to Crystal Hairy, and calls herself Isobelle when asked for her name. She doesn't hesitate to eat cookies just like the rest of them, rather than sticking to her vegetables. The mescaline trip allowed both opposite parties to realize who they were without bias. For Jamie that was pretty much just a mean, impatient, closed-minded person who gets too caught up in small social mishaps. For Crystal/Isobelle - a person who puts on a little too much of a front to seem all mystical etc. when really she's just another human being. I think it's safe to say that negative reviewers didn't pay enough attention / aren't familiar with dissolution/transformation of the ego. A story doesn't have to be about big things to be big.

Childish drawings. Public nakedness. Horrific gang-bang memories. A whole foods diet. An urge to Earth Mother everyone. Disrespect for private property. Yo-yo emotional outbursts. Unforgettable body odor. Lots of big words. Casual nudity before strange men. A constant need to be bailed out of jams. Cultural insensitivity. A hankering to scrapbook. Plenty of sunburns. Psychobabble. Relying on the kindness of strangers. The need to scold. A yen to dominate men. Conflict with female folk. Rampant insecurities. No serious effort to become an S.I. swimsuit model. An impractical approach to life. Gathering no moss. Taking lots of notes. Not stepping in the same river twice. No sense of direction. Mooching. Constantly being holier than thou. Willing to strap it on. That's just the attributes of the "Crystal Fairy" (played in CRYSTAL FAIRY & THE MAGIC CACTUS AND 2012 by Gabby Hoffman). How could co-star Michael Cera dump JUNO for HER?!

I'd rather lick dirt from the bottom of a muddy welly that had been used to tread through a field of cows suffering from delly belly, after eating a truck full of out of date vindaloo's that fell of a passing lorry, than be forced to carry on watching this film!! It's utterly boring, the dialog would be similar to a group of your mates hanging out pretending to make a film at a party. It's uncomfortable viewing to say the least. I'm sorry for anyone that has wasted their earth minutes watching this film, you are now closer to death than you were before you decided to settle down on the sofa with your lady to watch this film. Your optimistic expectations that this film would surprise and delight you has been punched out of you like a heavy weight world boxer sucker punching an eight year old boy.

I don't understand these deeply esoteric character portraits of some seriously completely unrealistic, demented, BORING people. I find the characters in this movie, especially the fairy, to be utterly ridiculous, and would only actually be found in a mental institution. No one like her could realistically survive outside of one. I mean, what do these people do for a living? How do they even makes ends meet, afford clothing, food, a shelter, let alone other belongings? All they do is go on and on about nothing. Sleep fest. The truly disturbing part of this movie was these pictures the main character finds near the end of the movie. They actually showed a CLOSEUP of a man being sodomized by a woman with a strap-on, with ACTUAL PENETRATION. I'm NEVER going to get that out of my mind. Be WARNED if something like this bothers you. How the hell did this pass the censors? Penetration is strictly forbidden in rated R movies and even rated X movies!! Not to mention you saw a closeup of an angle that showed the penetration, his scrotum and *. WHAT?! They would NEVER allow a shot like this to be taken of a woman, even without any penetration. Why is that? You can't even show a labia in R-rated movies (which I agree with), so why so much * and scrotum? I'll never understand why one is OK but not the other. There's never a close up of something like this, male or female, in even soft-core * (X-rated movies). Is this a preview of things to come? There's been more * in movies made in the past 8 years, even closeups, than from all of the movies from 1940-2000 combined. What's going on here? Do audiences want to see this? I'm pretty sure the vast majority doesn't.

Crystal Fairy is one of the most pointless films I think I've ever watched. It's not trying to be avant-garde and it's not trying to be mainstream, it lingers somewhere inbetween without reason. It has little story, with no plot and hence, goes nowhere from the start. Michael Cera is somewhat fun to watch, but the film as a whole has no motive to make you enjoy it. I can see where the film wanted to go, this exotic road trip, but it fails so many times that it feels like you are watching an idea that could have been unfold into this series of pointless images. Crystal Fairy and The Magic Cactus is one of those boring films with no substance to give you anything to keep you watching. Michael Cera is possibly the only reason for you to pick this movie up with no other big names.

This DVD was on Fast Reads because other users of the library are queued up to read it. I am quite puzzled why. This is a story about how four boys and a girl steal a chunk of psychedelic cactus and go to the beach. Nothing happens. They don't even have soulful conversation. They tease that some group sex might happen, but it never materialises. The sexiest thing that happens is finding some naughty photos. (In this dull movie, that might count as a spoiler). The sound is what you might expect from a surveillance bug. The lighting is often over or under exposed. I don't know why they made this movie. Even the settings are barren and dusty. I kept wanting to give up on the movie, but I soldiered on, hoping it would eventually do something of interest. The girl wanders around naked a lot. By movie standards of beauty, she should not do that. The boys keep their swim trunks on.

Michael Cera goes a long way toward changing his lovable doofus image in this road trip movie with a laid back and ultimately rather sweet vibe. Cera plays an obnoxious American vacationing in Chile who's trying to chase down a special kind of cactus that has mind-altering capabilities when the juice is distilled and drunk. Along for the ride are three native Chilean brothers and another American, a hippie-dippie girl named Crystal Fairy. The Chileans are quiet, polite and tolerant while the Americans are both unpleasant, Cera because he's a jerk and Crystal Fairy because she tries too hard. If this had stayed yet another Americans-behaving-badly movie I wouldn't have liked it. But it goes a very different, and welcome, direction, as the group's time together causes defenses to be relaxed and vulnerabilities to emerge. "Crystal Fairy" does a great job of capturing that unique dynamic that evolves when a random assortment of people spend a lot of time together on a road trip. The characters created by Cera and Gaby Hoffman (who plays Crystal Fairy) certainly aren't pleasant to spend time with for much of the film's running time, but they're so like people I've actually known that it's fascinating to watch their performances and how thoroughly they can create characters that feel so authentic. I was already won over by the film's casual, relaxed atmosphere by the time the last few scenes came around, and then, after a late-act revelation and the sensitive way in which the film handles it, decided that I had sort of fallen in love with it. Grade: A

"Crystal Fairy" is a road trip taken by two of the ugliest Americans to ever trod a cinematic foreign country. Their goal: Mescaline and spiritual discovery – or closer to the truth, themselves. Comedy star Michael Cera, Jamie, showcases trademark Allenesque neuroses, whining and flat affect in a role based on the experiences of Director Sebastián Silva. The reversal is Silva was a native while Cera is an interloper of whom it is asked, "Did you travel to (beautiful) Chile just for the San Pedro (the cactus harvested for Mescaline)?" The answer is a resounding yes, and there is nothing he won't do to get it, including stealing cactus from a lonely, mentally challenged woman. Gaby Hoffman, Crystal Fairy, is a pontificating Sixties throwback who wanders about in the * and chastises people about their food choices (while drinking Coke). She's also an unwanted (by Cera) barnacle clinging to the trip which includes three native brothers. (The scenes of the brothers trying to look like they're not gawking at the * Hoffman in a hotel room are hilarious.) Cera's performance is admirable but his usual one-note. Hoffman easily outshines him. The improvised dialogue adds immediacy and verisimilitude while masking the bitter subtext; Neo-Colonialism and Financial Imperialism. Like "Tony Manero" (a film crediting thanks to Silva), United States' influence and interference lightly greases this story's wheels. Unlike "Tony Manero," "Crystal Fairy" adds character arcs: Cera departs his obnoxious head to find self-acceptance and a heart recognizing Fairy's inner beauty; Fairy discovers her healing powers cannot reanimate a dead animal and the world just might not end in 2012. She also finds acceptance of the sexual abuse leading her to a life as a strap-on wearing Dominatrix. The Chilean brothers are antithetical to the Gringos. Their portrayals are a given as they're natives of the country of the film's origin, but their counterpoint makes Cera and Hoffman all the more ridiculous. To say "Crystal Fairy" is a comedy (stoner or otherwise), twisted love story or angry gringo-invective is to sell the film short. This is a sweet, abstract film with multiple layers and a few very fine moments. The film plants itself in the psyche – much like Mescaline. Giving in to the film's charms results in a feeling you actually tripped along. Multiple viewings may help in understanding off-the-cuff lines delivered sotto voce. And the abrupt, unsatisfying ending is a shortcoming. There is a movement to cut to black and end films with ambiguity. To feed post-viewing conversation and debate? Whether lazy, uninspired, unmotivated or ill-advised, an ambiguous ending cheats the audience. ("The Birds" notwithstanding.) A welcome respite to noisy, tent-pole, superhero entertainment, joining this troupe on the road is definitely worth the ninety minute trip – straight or high.

I am late seeing this flick and I must disagree with a few other reviewers and their take on this very simple yet complex movie. Once again Sebastián Silva is offering up questions on youth and how youth sees the world around them. Jamie is obviously a self centered person with a limited experience in communicating with others (sort of like the US) (as Jamie is an American) and we can see this in his 'attitude' throughout the story. The other three boys have had to share with others and they try to make the best of their trip to the beach. Jamie, on the other hand insist they do it as planed. Enter Crystal Fairy into this mix and you already have an altered perception of exactly what they want to do - she is like the drug reduced from the cactus later in the story (she has an altered view of reality). She wants to share everything the three other boys don't seem to mind. Jamie can't tolerate it - he wants none of her. Crystal mothers them, she wants to know them, the boys are like children to her - yet she is very childlike herself. Jamie suddenly wants to be friends with her but only when he's 'high', after he comes down he's back to his original self. Crystal leaves quietly, Jamie sees her leave and calls her name, Crystal disappears behind a rock. What is Silva showing us here? Crystal is the personality of many different people, she's giving, caring, willing to accept life on her own and take risks - and being alone isn't easy, she is alone throughout the movie and Jamie thinks she's a phony. Jamie cannot see that he is the phony because in the end Crystal is what Jamie was seeking in the brewed Cactus they drink and even when high he could not accept it.