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
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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 CriticA curiously resistable drama, despite several strong elements -- the most notable being newcomer Idina Menzel.
06/02/06
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 CriticThis film is too dull to really spring to life.
05/06/06
Like the desert beyond, the film is arid and airless.
05/23/06
Top CriticWhile the dialogue and careful pacing befits the original novel, the film sometimes drags because of it.
03/10/06
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
Towne gets L.A. (that strange combination of wide-open spaces and close-quarter moral rot) like nobody else. Still, there's a persisting dreariness at the film's center.
03/16/06
Anytime Farrell and Hayek decide to play up their sexuality, that's cause to dance in the streets
03/09/06
Farrell and costar Salma Hayek have rarely been so affecting, or so effective, as self-hating ethnics who find love.
03/30/06
Their (Colin Farrell & Salma Hayek's) tempestuous relationship teaches the young writer life-changing lessons about love and loss.
03/16/06
The film shows exactly the kind of cinematic craftsmanship you might expect from this kind of passion project, but also an occasional flatness
03/10/06
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
A stylistic triumph, one whose story and character shortcomings are overcompensated with lush visuals, a haunting score and a trio of strong performances
03/10/06
Towne and cinematographer Caleb Deschanel beautifully capture Fante's city of the dispossessed, where the seasons never change.
03/16/06
Featuring Colin Farrell and Salma Hayek at their most appealing, Towne's film adds another panel to his exploration of Depression-era L.A., though noir purists will label the movie a romantic melodrama rather than noir.
02/27/06
If you can believe that a character with Colin Farrell's good looks has no experience with women until he meets Salma Hayek, you can have a reasonably fun time with this melodramatic and stylized pic.
03/06/06
Ask the Dust has occasional lapses in energy, sagging noticeably about the two-thirds mark. Still, it rallies in the final reel, generating enough emotion to move filmgoers.
03/24/06
Towne has not given us the great American love story, but he has presented us with a captivating view of 1933 Los Angeles and a tale of romance that involves us in the plight of the characters.
03/10/06
This is not a movie for the masses. It is, however, a small film about real life hardships and their tragic consequences.
03/20/06
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