Ask the Dust (film)

Ask the Dust
The movie poster for Ask the Dust.
Directed by	Robert Towne
Produced by	Tom Cruise Jonas McCord Paula Wagner
Screenplay by	Robert Towne
Based on	Ask the Dust by John Fante
Starring	Colin Farrell Salma Hayek Donald Sutherland Idina Menzel
Music by	Ramin Djawadi Heitor Pereira
Distributed by	Paramount Classics
Release date(s)	March 17, 2006
Running time	117 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$742,614 (USA)

Ask the Dust is a 2006 film based on the book Ask the Dust by John Fante. The movie was written and directed by Robert Towne. Tom Cruise (with Paula Wagner and Cruise/Wagner Productions) served as one of the film's producers. The film was released on a limited basis on March 17, 2006. It was filmed almost entirely in South Africa with the use of stages to portray Los Angeles.

Plot

The story is set during the Great Depression, specifically around the time of the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. Camilla (Salma Hayek) is a fiery, beautiful Mexican café waitress who aspires one day to be above her current standing in society. She wishes to do this by marrying a wealthy man from the United States. Her plan is thrown into disarray when she meets Italian-American Arturo Bandini (Colin Farrell). Farrell's character is portrayed as a struggling writer who comes to Los Angeles's Bunker Hill area to start his writing career.

Cast

• Colin Farrell as Arturo Bandini
• Salma Hayek as Camilla Lopez
• Donald Sutherland as Hellfrick
• Eileen Atkins as Mrs. Hargraves
• Idina Menzel as Vera Rivkin
• Justin Kirk as Sammy
• Dion Basco as Patricio/houseboy
• Jeremy Crutchley as Solomon, the bartender
• William Mapother as Bill
• Tamara Craig Thomas as Sally

Film delays

The rights to the novel once belonged to Mel Brooks, though he let them lapse. Towne met Fante in the 1970s. This meeting led to his interest in the project. Despite finishing the script in the early 1990s, he couldn't find financial backing from a studio. During this time Farrell's role was originally set to be played by Johnny Depp but he dropped out. Later Val Kilmer accepted the role and also dropped out. Another delay was Hayek initially rejecting the role to avoid being typecast as a Mexican immigrant. She accepted the role eight years later.

Critical reception

The film received negative to mixed reviews from critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 37% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 100 reviews. Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 58 out of 100, based on 33 reviews.

External links

• Ask the Dust at the Internet Movie Database
• Ask the Dust at Rotten Tomatoes
• Ask the Dust at Metacritic
• Ask the Dust at Box Office Mojo
• Ask the Dust at AllRovi