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Ask the Dust (2006)

Name: Ask the Dust
Genre: Drama, Romance
Released: 2006-02-02
Duration: 116 min
Rating: 5.5
Cast: Colin Farrell, Salma Hayek Pinault, Donald Sutherland, Eileen Atkins, Idina Menzel

Ask the Dust (2006), directed by Robert Towne, starring Colin Farrell and Salma Hayek Pinault.

02/02/2006 BR Drama and Romance 1h 56m

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Trapped by passion. Faced by their dreams.

Synopsis

Mexican beauty Camilla hopes to rise above her station by marrying a wealthy American. That is complicated by meeting Arturo Bandini, a first-generation Italian hoping to land a writing career and a blue-eyed blonde on his arm.

Caleb DeschanelCinematography
Robert TowneDirector, Screenplay
Robert K. LambertEditing
Christopher RobertsProducer

About the film

Ask the Dust is a 2006 romantic drama film based on the 1939 book Ask the Dust by John Fante. The film was written and directed by Robert Towne, and was his final film. 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, and was entered into the 28th Moscow International Film Festival. It was filmed almost entirely in South Africa with the use of stages to portray Los Angeles.

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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 to make something of herself and give her and her future children a place and chance in the world. Arturo (Colin Farrell) is a struggling writer who comes to Bunker Hill, Los Angeles to start his writing career. Though he falls in love with Camilla, he does not marry her. Later, Camilla is infected by tuberculosis and leaves Arturo without informing him. When Arturo finds her, she is about to die, and he promises to marry her, but Camilla dies, and Arturo writes a novel dedicated to Camilla. Arturo writes a dedication in one of his books to her and throws it into the sand.

Cast

Production

The rights to the novel once belonged to Mel Brooks, though he let them lapse. Towne met Fante in the 1970s and that 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 after eight years.

Part of the film was shot at Pinelands High School (Cape Town, South Africa), on fields modified to simulate a Los Angeles scenery. Scenes were also filmed at the very popular Sun City Resort in South Africa, specifically using the man-made beach at the Valley of Waves water park, for a romantic night-swim scene.

Critical reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 35% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 103 reviews, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The site's consensus states: "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." Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 58 out of 100, based on 33 reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.

References

External links

Ask the Dust at IMDb

Ask the Dust at Rotten Tomatoes

Ask the Dust at Metacritic

Ask the Dust at Box Office Mojo

Text from Ask the Dust (film) on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ask_the_Dust_(film)

Trivia

It grossed US$ 2.5 million worldwide.
It premiered on February 2, 2006, a Thursday.
It runs 1h56 — a typical feature length.
As of September 20, 2026, it is available in Brazil by subscription on Looke.
This film's quiz has 13 questions — enough to play more than once without repeats.

Production

StudiosCruise/Wagner Productions, Ascendant Pictures, Capitol Films, Noble House Entertainment Pictures, VIP Medienfonds 3
CountriesUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
Box officeUS$ 2,500,000
StatusReleased

More about this film

Based on

Ask the Dust

Filming locations

South Africa

Set in

Los Angeles

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Cast

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Crew

Caleb Deschanel Cinematography
Robert Towne Director
Robert K. Lambert Editing
Christopher Roberts Producer
Don Granger Producer
Jonas McCord Producer
Paula Wagner Producer
Tom Cruise Producer
Heitor Pereira Original music
Ramin Djawadi Original music
Robert Towne Screenplay

Questions about this film

What is Ask the Dust about?

Ask the Dust: Mexican beauty Camilla hopes to rise above her station by marrying a wealthy American. That is complicated by meeting Arturo Bandini, a first-generation Italian hoping to land a writing career and a blue-eyed blonde on his arm.

Who directed Ask the Dust?

Ask the Dust was directed by Robert Towne in 2006.

Who stars in Ask the Dust?

The cast of Ask the Dust includes Colin Farrell, Salma Hayek Pinault, Donald Sutherland, Eileen Atkins and Idina Menzel.

How long is Ask the Dust?

Ask the Dust runs for 116 minutes, or 1h56.

Where can I watch Ask the Dust?

Ask the Dust is available on Looke, Looke Amazon Channel, Apple TV Store, Amazon Video and Google Play Movies. Availability changes often: the list on this page is the most recent we received.

What is Ask the Dust based on?

Ask the Dust is based on Ask the Dust.