Although Chinatown writer Towne lovingly depicts the Depression-era LA setting (actually shot in South Africa), the film misfires.
Comment
06/24/06
Ask the Dust (2005)
37
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:101
Fresh:37
Rotten:64
Average Rating:5.1/10
Consensus: Though Hayek is luminous, Farrell seems miscast, and the film fails to capture the gritty, lively edginess of the book upon which it's based.
Runtime: 1 hr 56 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: From the director of CHINATOWN comes a tale of small-town dreams and big-city challenges. Colin Farrell plays a down-and-out writer in 1930s L.A. who dreams of making it big, and Salma Hayek plays... [More]
Starring: Colin Farrell, Salma Hayek, Donald Sutherland, Eileen Atkins
Director: Robert Towne
Reviews for Ask the Dust
Top CriticIt is a odd-sounding, odd-looking piece of work, not uninteresting by any means, but there is something a little forced in both lead performances.
06/03/06
Top CriticA curiously resistable drama, despite several strong elements -- the most notable being newcomer Idina Menzel.
06/02/06
Top CriticLike the desert beyond, the film is arid and airless.
05/23/06
Top CriticThis film is too dull to really spring to life.
05/06/06
Airless, joyless
08/30/09
Click to read the article
04/23/09
Donald Sutherland saunters onscreen, momentarily raising the level of the film, before he ambles back out the door and things sink back down to the listless and pointless pace that typifies this jumbled mess of a movie.
04/19/07
Supporting characters float in and disappear without rhyme, reason or resolution.
02/06/07
Towne has a perhaps unique ability to make this ill-fated movie romance classically seductive while doing full justice to its authentic subject. [His] canniness as a writer and casual sophistication do wonders for the actors.
11/01/06
full review in Greek
10/03/06
Termina numa nota amarga; não em função de sua história, mas da promessa não realizada de se revelar um filme grandioso, digno de seu diretor.
06/08/06
A perplexing but ultimately rewarding experience.
06/03/06
Something is missing, though. The themes are all there, but the movie doesn’t cross the blood-brain barrier and rev you up.
05/12/06
The elements never quite come together, and the main characters never quite spring to life.
05/12/06
A lush ode to optimism, opportunity and the American dream.
05/04/06
A pulpy, hard-boiled, ironic tale but with a happy ending
04/14/06
The characters are well drawn, but their relationships are not, making the viewing experience passive.
04/10/06
No one gets away unscathed in Robert Towne's overblown attempt at transfiguring John Fante's novel to film.
04/09/06
Farrell and costar Salma Hayek have rarely been so affecting, or so effective, as self-hating ethnics who find love.
03/30/06
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