Ask the Dust

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Ask the Dust

38% Liked It
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Ask the Dust

Charlie Hunnam, Colin Farrell, Donald Sutherland, Eileen Atkins, Idina Menzel

A young man, full of ambition and shame for having been castigated in Colorado for his Italian heritage, comes to Los Angeles to become a novelist and meet a blonde beauty. As his writing flourishes, ...( read more  read more... )he meets and becomes obsessed with a Mexican barmaid.

Id: 10891546

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Recent Reviews

Ask the Dust Recent Reviews
  • AgentLexi2132
    August 5, 2008
    AgentLexi2132
    ''You call me beautiful at home, then you are ashamed to be seen with me in public. You are ashamed of beauty you recognize that no one else does. You are ashamed to love me!''

    In the 1930s, penniless Arturo Bandini (Farrell) lodges in LA and tries to become an author, w...( read more)orrying that he?s too inexperienced to have anything to write about. He has a complex relationship with Camilla (Hayek), a Mexican waitress, which eventually inspires him to finish a novel.

    Colin Farrell: Arturo Bandini

    Salma Hayek: Camilla

    Mesmerizing narration, acting and story, Ask The Dust shows the desperation of the times.
    Colin Farrel and Salma Hayek have some good chemistry and some good narration and voice-overs. You become attached to Colin's character as he progresses through the story.

    The upshot is a careful, deliberately old-fashioned picture which has many admirable qualities. Filmed in South Africa, it creates a distinctive vision of 30s LA that doesn't overlap too much with Towne's Fante-influenced script for Chinatown. It fills a hillside hotel with deadbeats and eccentrics (including Donald Sutherland) and springs several surprising forces of nature, from unexpectedly heavy waves that turn a nude midnight swim into a near-death experience, to an earthquake that tears up a pavement.

    There's a startling supporting turn from Idina Menzel as a character so unusual the film comes to life when she barges in and finds it hard to not leave an impression.
    In contrast, Colin Farrell and Salma Hayek (who both look way too healthy and buff) play characters who are frustratingly charismatic. Their affair dawdles in squabbles for an hour, before finally coming into focus in intimate flourishing scenes.

    Cinematographer Caleb Deschanel's shots are each a marvel of painterly cinema, just the right brownish, noir-ish lighting and shadows to create a marginal world of dream and destitution where only love could create wealth. And what a love. These two leads are to the camera born, their dark good looks making them as much brother and sister as reluctant lovers. Farrell speaks almost as if he is narrating, which he does as well, his intonations are weighty, uncharacteristic of the more flamboyant characters he is used to playing. Hayek has lusty dignity with a spicy stubbornness that makes you believe she is worthy of marrying this man and living happily ever after.

    End result a curiously irresistible drama, despite several strong elements,the most notable being newcomer Idina Menzel.
  • armybratgeo
    February 4, 2008
    armybratgeo
    I my, I had actually pretty low ecpectations from this, but it turned out very well. I love Salma, she's so amazing, wasn't sure about Collin though, but he did great. This was such a different kinda love story, i loved it.
  • sanjurosamurai
    January 20, 2008
    sanjurosamurai
    this film wanted to be great, and could have been so, but it missed the mark. at least average, it failed with oddities of the story and uncomfortable moments that were unneccesary to the plot. the premise was great but it missed on most everything else.
  • sykora259517
    June 7, 2007
    sykora259517
    Chick Flick but didn't play like one. Not my type of movie but it kept my attention and my word I actually liked it!
  • Sssabee
    January 6, 2007
    Sssabee
    Don't you just HATE it when good books are turned into crappy films... when you are watching scenes you pictured in your head while reading the novel as A LOT better... when you are wondering what posessed you to rent that particular movie when others equally bad, but with a less...( read more) destructive potential on an image you had were lying on the shelf?

    Colin Farrel strikes again and again makes me wonder WHY THE HELL DOES HE KEEP GETTING PARTS?!?! No, really... if any other actor would have been in his stead the film would have been ten times better. Salma is getting old and can't seem to get by on charm alone anymore and the performance she had in Frida seems preety far away. Donals Sutherland is the only one that does a decent job, but I never really liked him enough for his presence to save the film for me and his part is tiny anyway.

    Overall, a sad, sad interpretation of a good book and a missed opportunity of what could have been a great movie under a different director and with a different cast. Disappointing to say the least.
  • nappyboynaija
    December 27, 2009
    nappyboynaija
    d concept of the movie is good but d ending wasnt proper...
  • diegosp2
    November 21, 2009
    diegosp2
    Colin Ferrel estava fingindo fingir ou fingindo não fingir?
  • NuditysShiver
    August 24, 2009
    NuditysShiver
    Mmm. Salma Hayek naked and letting the ocean waves caress her perfect form. Okay, maybe that's the only reason why I watch this film. Nudity from Hayek is always welcomed. And yes, I will sit through a film just to watch it take place.
  • michaelcorleone
    August 24, 2009
    michaelcorleone
    Robert Towne's uneven character study has sparse great moments, but there were enough strong ideas to keep me engaged. This is a flawed piece that requires a lot of patience, especially considering the fact that its first act is its weakest. However, the unorthodox protagonist an...( read more)d sexual energy keep it afloat enough for its positive elements to shine through. Colin Farrell, who is a consistently impressive actor, is not given enough credit for his talent. He does quite a good job in this, and Salma Hayek turns in a respectable performance too. If you're willing to overlook its faults, it's an engaging watch.
  • jerrynation
    August 11, 2009
    jerrynation
    Salma Hayek and Colin Farrell in this movie are way sexier than Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in Mr Mrs Smith. Im very sure about that.
    One of the greatest love movies. I really fell in love. Very real, authentic and stylish.
    Salma Hayek proves again to be a great actress and ...( read more)Collin Farrel thank you for give life to this wonderful character and made it so well too, we need a performance like that because he was getting bad. Ask The Dust and Tiggerland are his very best performances.
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