Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus

A hit at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, Crystal Fairy stars Michael Cera (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) as an uptight American drug-partaking lout backpacking parts of Chile with three friends (whom are native Chileans) in search of a rare cactus -- the San Pedro -- in hopes of experiencing its hallucinogenic effects on a northern beach.

At a random party before their trek is set to begin, a coked-out Jamie (Cera) spontaneously invites another American party-er to partake with them. She (Gaby Hoffman - remember the little girl from Field of Dreams and Sleepless in Seattle?) is a hairy (uh ... yep) free-spirit who channels the vibes of nature and goes by the name Crystal Fairy.

After their trip begins (it is a few hundred miles of a drive from the city to the beach), Jamie and Crystal discover that they have conflicting personalities and they clash many times before their group even comes across the cactus to imbibe as he is boorish and insensitive and she is unique and a deep-thinker. Jamie becomes increasingly annoyed with Crystal while his three Chilean friends tolerate her much better and actually respect her point of view and sensibility. Jamie is oftentimes unaware of his rude-ness but he is written well and believably portrays an American tourist expecting concessions and advantages. When they actually find a cactus (one she has spotted), Jamie and Crystal Fairy even disagree as to how to obtain it because Jamie likes things being his way and he is a stressful worry-wart.

While this portion of the journey is complicated, the real "adventure" begins on the beach when they make their drinkable concoction. The film becomes one about personal and inner understanding, acceptance and compassion. The first half comes across as rather annoying as Jamie's character is very self-centered and not too-likable and while I believed the drug-induced portion of the film would be the hardest part to endure ... I was wrong as this is when the true characters of each are actually revealed.

As for the film's acting: Cera fans know what to expect from him and he plays another slight variation of manic that he's shown audiences before. His character is high-strung and abrasive and some might want to reach through their screens and punch him a time or two; but this is a testament to Cera's acting talent. He plays his character very well. Hoffman hasn't been on many movie screens lately and it is nice seeing her play the titular (ahem) character. She bares more than just her soul in a few scenes ... and her final admission around a late-night campfire is moving and emotional. Welcome back to the big screen Gaby! This is a good little, independent film ... but it isn't one for everybody. It takes some patience and those who dislike grainy picture and plot-lite story lines won't appreciate or enjoy this. It is only those patient enough to make it to the end of this film and willing to take the entire trip who will be rewarded with the film's high.

Crystal Fairy and the Magical Cactus and 2012 follows a group of Caucasian backpackers as they rummage the lands of Chile in search of a sought-after cactus that apparently holds the power to give you an incredible high. The leader of the pack is Jamie (Michael Cera), who is assisted by several friends and the spirit named "Crystal Fairy" (Gaby Hoffmann) in order to find the renowned hallucinogen.

I was not under any chemical reinforcement while watching Crystal Fairy, and thankfully, neither was the film. I question how its quality is affected if a curious soul does decide to use any drugs while watching the film. From my viewpoint, stone-cold sober at 7pm, this was a pretty stale film affair. It's a film that lacks a compelling narrative, interesting characters, and finds itself consistently unfunny and unmoving in terms of attempting to get us invested in this situation.

Films like this irritate me because what unfolds is an almost unfairly subjective review talking about the lack of anything interesting about the film and relying heavily but unintentionally on generalities. The film features a lot of talking, a lot of drugging, some instances of nudity, and a lot of characters racing back and forth trying to enjoy their not high. I suppose if you've hung with a group of friends - or have friends - like this, your interest in the film will skyrocket past mine. Films like this seem more enjoyable when relatability with characters is brought up on the scene or experience in similar situations within the film. Frankly, I have neither, so the film is like watching a stranger's home movies during last weekend's house party.

This is the exact same way I felt while watching Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas several months back. The constant depiction of drug hallucinations and acid/mescaline-induced trips wore me down to no end. At least with that film I had the benefit of director Terry Gilliam's eclectic, cluttered visual style, along with the benefits of Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro's character acting skills. With Crystal Fairy, I have only the charming blandness of Michael Cera's performance and one laugh every half-hour to keep me marginally in-tune with the picture. Director Sebastián Silva doesn't infuse any particular visual-flare to give us any kind of connection to these witless gringos. It's so cold it almost makes Chile's climate seem like the arctic.

On a final note, I kept pondering what exactly Crystal Fairy and the Magical Cactus and 2012 could've been for me to enjoy it. For one, it could've invited more character personality into the mix. Two, it could've had some slick visual-hallucinations capitalizing off the talents of a young visual effects artist. And finally, perhaps the little things such as cinematographical and musical touches would've provided a pleasant look at Chile's culture. Instead, we get a forgettable piece of of cinema that seems to prefer catering to the viewing habits of the few instead of many others'.

Starring: Michael Cera and Gaby Hoffmann. Directed by: Sebastián Silva.

CRYSTAL FAIRY is a comedy of sorts set in Chile, made in Chile by Chileans but starring American actors. It is pretty unique in that aspect. It feels at times like a foreign film but mostly like one of the many American dramedies of the style that emerged in the last decade and a half. It's hard to shake the whole Michael Cera vibe.

Not that I don't like Michael Cera. He's fun to watch sometimes and a good actor. But this film is what it is and it's not exactly what I wanted it to be. That said, it's still kind of fun and there are some good laughs in here. It's not too long. It's got a sort of thrown-together feel, but in a good way. Looks like they had fun making it. I read that it's based on a true story. Recommend for those looking for something different but not too different.

Hiding behind masks that cover their vulnerability, two Americans in Chile, Jamie (Michael Cera) and Crystal Fairy, a young free-spirited woman (Gaby Hoffmann), spar off against each other in Chilean filmmaker Sebastián Silva's psychedelic comedy Crystal Fairy. The film was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize and won the Directing Award for World Cinema at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Jamie's act is one of controlling, overly-aggressive behavior but not quite the "Ugly American," while Crystal's is the opposite but equally phony, a caricature of a "hippie" filled with love for everyone who spouts clichés about chakras and mother earth, walks around her hotel room naked, engages in healing rituals, and chides the others for eating junk food.

It's hard to tell if the director is using her persona as a means of ridiculing these ideas or just showing how inauthentic she is. In any event, Crystal and Jamie's way of being, while it fills a need for them, has costs in sacrificing who they really are. On the surface, the film is a road trip to find a psychedelic substance in the San Pedro cactus plant which, when boiled for twelve hours and ingested, has the properties of mescaline (it has been said that the actors used mescaline while shooting the film). In essence, however, the film is not really about mescaline but about releasing rigid patterns of behavior and discovering new ways of interacting that are more fulfilling.

The film begins at a party where Silva's hand-held camera-work and improvised conversation is established. On a cocaine high, the caustic Jamie invites a partygoer, a girl who calls herself Crystal Fairy to accompany him and his friends on a quest to repeat the spiritual high described in Aldous Huxley's book The Doors of Perception. When Crystal takes him up on the offer the next day (which he has forgotten that he even made), he is dismayed by her annoying behavior, even though his Chilean friends, Champa (Juan Andres Silva) and his two brothers Lel (Jose Miguel Silva) and Pilo (Augustin Silva), seem more tolerant, perhaps because at least one does not understand English. Their trip to the ocean to locate and purchase a piece of the San Pedro cactus from reluctant residents is one of the comic highlights of the film, even though Jamie has to eventually use surreptitious means to acquire it.

Crystal Fairy ends up in a good place even though it is more than a little irritating in getting there. During the trip, Jamie and Crystal talk to each other, but at cross purposes. The results are unpredictable but, suffice it to say, their longing for a spiritual experience does not take the form that Huxley described. Michael Cera's role is out of character from the lovable, nerdy self he has played in earlier movies, but he is terrific in this film, totally natural and very real, as is Hoffmann in her role, both continuing to reveal a new dimension to their character. Ultimately, the group's sharing about their fears and their discovery of how their act no longer serves their purpose in life is more open and honest than anything I've seen in films recently and stays in the memory.

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.