Most of the comments are right on point: the cinematography, set design, costuming, and recreation of California of the thirties are wonderful; Hayek is beautiful and Farrell good-looking. The problem with the movie is that not just the plot but also the script is true to its period. The dialogue and spoken narration are from the thirties -- the overwritten, wordy, Broadway-influenced, "literary" scripts of Clifford Odets, Robert Sherwood, Eugene O'Neill, and so on. Towne has an excuse for part of Ask the Dust's script, since he's writing about a writer who's obsessed with and intoxicated by his own words, but the style spills over into the rest of the script. A talky, "literary" movie can have its own charms for sympathetic viewers, but most of the audience will dismiss it as stagy and pretentious.

This movie is one of the best i have ever seen. It has a lot of different stuff. A lot of feelings in it, and makes you sit in 20 minutes after it is done, thinking...Colin Farrell delivers a lot of talent, in this film. Salma Hayek i have always liked, and she really is worth gold in the film.I have only positive things to say about it, and i hope everyone else find it as pleasuring to watch as i did. And although it is not a horror movie, or a movie with a lot of killing and that sort of stuff,it is worth watching for ANYONE.My highest recommendations!

Ask the Dust is an entirely unremarkable film. But while there may be nothing spectacular about it in the end it is a reasonably entertaining film. Not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination but there are much worse ways to spend two hours.The film is set in Depression era Los Angeles and the attention to period detail is exceptional, 1930s L.A. brought brilliantly to life. Colin Farrell plays writer Arturo Bandini who is struggling to find inspiration that will allow him to sell some stories for some desperately needed cash. He also struggles with the prejudice he faces due to his Italian heritage. But while Italians may be looked down upon in this time and place they certainly have it better than the Mexicans. Enter Salma Hayek, playing Camilla, a waitress whose goal is to improve her standing in life by marrying a wealthy white man. But maybe just any white man will do if it allows her to become a citizen. Anyhow, Arturo and Camilla meet and although they seem to be an obvious mismatch they inevitably fall for one another. And so off we go, following this relationship which at first is rather awkward but as it evolves...well, actually it's still pretty awkward. Having to deal with prejudices, both those of outsiders and their own, was always going to make this relationship a difficult one. But the pair make it work. More or less. As you watch the two live out their cycle of coming together and drifting apart and coming together again you get the sense the film is at times just standing in place and not really moving forward. The story does drag at times but in the end it works. Barely works perhaps but it does work.Probably the best thing the movie has to offer is its stunning cinematography and period detail. But nice visuals are never enough in a film, you need the story to go with it. And the story here is passable, which is about the best that can be said for it. It never really grabs you but the movie does just enough to hold your interest. Farrell and Hayek are fine in their roles, with Hayek certainly having the Mexican spitfire role down pat by now. Donald Sutherland and Idina Menzel portray a couple of rather unique characters and do a good job with them but those roles are little more than extended cameos. For the most part this film is left to Farrell and Hayek to carry. And they do the best they can with a story which, while certainly not riveting, is interesting. In the end Ask the Dust is a reasonably decent way to spend two hours. You've seen a lot better. You've also seen a lot worse.

i prefer to write my comment about this movie as a poetry:"give me one more chance,to tell you that i don't wont anyone else but you. give me one more chance to tell you,that every thought of mine is about you.give me one more chance to touch your gentle soul.stay .or leave.but ask the dust for the unsaid words.ask the dust for the dissipated days.ask the dust for lost loves,and ask the dust for the missed days."about the story:he is an Italian,she is a Mexican.both they are foreigners in weird country,where to be "other"is not an appropriate thing. why we people are so cold?may we didn't know,that only dust remains after all of us!we are all made from dust &all go back there.sooner or later.