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.

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welly that had been used to tread through a field of cows suffering from delly belly, after eating a truck full of out of date vindaloo's that fell of a passing lorry, than be forced to carry on watching this film!!It's utterly boring, the dialog would be similar to a group of your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.

Review: I actually enjoyed this movie because I have been in a simian type of environment before. The whole movie has a kind of independent look to it which really suits the films tone. The characters were a great choice, especially the weird and wonderful Crystal Fairy who was really in her own world. I liked the fact that there was a whole meaning to the film and that all of the characters were on there own mission. It's not very often that you find movies that don't have that much dialogue, but the meaning and feel to what the director is trying to portray, really flows out with the actions of each character. For a film that isn't a bit blockbuster, it's worth a watch but if your expecting explosions and CGI then this is not the movie for you. Enjoyable!Round-Up: We are really beginning to see a different side to Michael Cera, who usually plays the crystal clean characters that can't do no wrong. I think that he was getting fed up with getting type casted. It's amazing to think that the the girl that plays Crystal Fairy is actually the kid out of Field Of Dreams & Uncle Buck. Anyway, she played a very convincing part in this film and it cracked me up when they called her Crystal Hairy. I recommend this movie to people who are into there road movies about a group of teenagers tripping out on Cactus juice. 5/10

Chilean writer/director Sebastián Silva was successful with his auspicious 2009 debut, 'The Maid'. But here, with his sophomore effort, Crystal Fairy & The Magical Cactus, he proffers up a real vanity project, marked by an air of unmistakable self-indulgence. Joining him in this slight affair is Michael Cera, whose star power obviously got the film bankrolled. Cera plays Jamie, an obnoxious version of himself. He finds himself at a party with a friend, Champa, in Santiago, Chile, where he scores some cocaine and boasts about his knowledge of Aldous Huxley's 'Doors of Perception'. He soon runs into Crystal Fairy, a hippie, earth-mother type, who isn't shy about disrobing in later scenes and showing off her hairy armpits. Jaime insults Crystal about her dancing abilities and jokingly mentions that he and his friend (along with his two brothers) will be taking a three hour trip to score some San Pedro cacti and its by-product: pure mescaline; it's mainly Jaime's plan, who intends to imbibe the psychedelic substance, at the beaches of the Atacama desert. Much to Jaime's chagrin, while driving to the town up north where they'll be looking for the cactus, Crystal calls and surprisingly informs Jaime that she'll be meeting him and the boys in town. Jaime ramps up his overbearing demeanor, as the group knocks on the doors of residents who have large stalks of San Pedro cacti, growing in their front yards. None of the residents seem to be interested in giving Jaime and his posse a piece so Jaime simply cuts off one and the group doesn't seem to be upset by his immoral actions.When the group finally arrives at the seashore, Crystal goes off by herself, communing with nature and Jaime boils some cactus and gets high on the mescaline. I understand that Cera actually did get high during the filming but none of his dreamy 'trips' are illustrated visually—he merely parades around the beach, making an ass of himself, as he did before. Later, during a campfire, Crystal reveals that she was raped, after being led away from some kind of new age gathering she was attending. Crystal also reveals that she works as a dominatrix, which doesn't seem to perturb any of Jaime's pals. As for the Chilean group, they really have little to do throughout the film, except ensure that Jaime, doesn't get too out of hand.Somewhere there's a solid, well-developed story here, but most of the lines are improvised and everything ends up rambling. Some judicious editing could have improved the story quite a bit, but Mr. Silva was probably having too much fun during the shooting of the film, to think about that. Silva has an ear for dialogue and certainly the Chilean landscape will keep your eyes glued to the screen. The aim here was obviously for comedy but unfortunately Cera's character is so unsympathetic, that we care little about any of this machinations, along with his Chilean compatriots, whom he took along for the ride.