Overrated

Lack of good storyline.

i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Every few years a movie comes along that makes you feel something. It's different to a film that you watch and then just walk away from. You can't walk away from this movie. For something that is so slow-paced its hard to remain engaging, but this movie had me glued to the screen. If I missed one line I had to take it back and watch it again so I didn't miss a thing. The film is beautifully directed and contains amazing cinematic imagery. It's clear throughout the film that this is an adaptation of a book and although most movies like it try to hide the fact, this one incorporates it willingly and in long moments of silence I missed Colin Farrell's soothing, low voice telling me what to feel. And that brings me to the acting. Colin Farrell is a man who knows his craft, and for a man, who prior to this film, was experiencing life in a totally different destructive way, really showed his acting ability transcends the substances he thought enhanced it. It is a character unlike he has ever played before, and he did it with such composure and an unwavering accent. The chemistry between himself and Salma Hayek is undeniable. I would say it was a pleasure to watch but I cannot use the word "pleasure" when I am left feeling every bit of the characters plight. That is what makes a great movie.

Ask the Dust is a film based on the book of the same title by John Fante. It stars Colin Farrell and Salma Hayek together with Donald Sutherland and Idina Menzel.The movie was written and directed by Robert Towne.Arturo Bandini is a young writer who comes to Los Angeles during the Great Depression in order to write a novel. He is down to his last nickel and decides to spend it on coffee in a diner. He is served by Camilla, a Mexican beauty he is instantly attracted to even though he treats her horribly during their first interaction. Soon the pair is involved in a relationship that finds them sparring with each other at first, but slowly learning to trust each other. Bandini meets the acquaintance of a desperate woman who sees him as the most desirable man in the world. Eventually Arturo and Camilla get away from the city and their love deepens as he attempts to finish his novel.This is one of the better films ever made despite the way critics have despised it. The themes are all there and Colin Farrell together with costar Salma Hayek have rarely been so affecting, or so effective, as self-hating ethnics who find love.We simply do care for their characters.Although thinking is required to fully appreciate this film,watching it is definitely a rewarding experience.

As a fan of John Fante's 1939 novel I've tried to watch this film several times, but I'm never able to get through it. I don't like the characters as presented here, and not for a second did I believe I was in 1930s Los Angeles. On the DVD commentary track, Robert Towne says he built the set in Cape Town, South Africa, because he couldn't find any parts of Los Angeles suitable as locations for the film. That's funny, because when Roman Polanski made Towne's "Chinatown" twenty years earlier, he had no trouble finding local places that effectively evoked the period. To make matters worse, the "Ask the Dust" movie set didn't even depict the Bunker Hill neighborhood--a real character in the book--but rather showed it only in the background as a distorted Third Street tunnel and the adjacent funicular, Angels Flight. Frankly, the Los Angeles of "Ask the Dust" couldn't have been less authentic if Towne had saved himself all the trouble and simply shot it on the Paramount back lot.

I don't know why most IMDb reviews tend to say every movie is garbage. Ask the Dust was not one of them. It is excellent! It is very funny at some parts and it has great performances from Salma, Colin and Idina above all. It is full of passion, spirit and logical things. The script is a very good one. Everything they said made sense and was very intelligent. I personally enjoyed very much the discussion scenes between Colin and Salma. They were awesome! This picture deserved much more support and more objective comments! The book might be better than the film, but still, this film is very romantic and passionate. It has those moments where human nature and romance comes into play, I love them. Salma and Colin fit for those roles perfectly. Anyone else suggesting other actors are ignorant fans of their own actors. Movie worth seeing. But if you are another IMDb critic, who doesn't know how to appreciate a good movie, then ...